New England IPA

You have to live close to these states to get the real new england style taste come threw.

 

So uh, I just like beer. And IPA's.

Don't care where they come from.

 

That is true on a common sense approach

 

Send some down south please

 

Because you have been all over the us to know if beers like that are brewed elsewhere. That self centered NE attitude.

 

Didn't Alpine start brewing "orange juice" IPA's before pretty much anyone else? I'm not up on my beer history but I know they've been around for a while and what I've had from them has looked just like that.

 

When someone talked about "water profile" I almost puked and realized how ridiculous this thread became.

 

what's so "New England" about it exactly....

 

New England IPA-

IPA with such limited production, distro and hype that it becomes legendary and represents a minuscule percentage of great beer on the market.

(And yes I have had them and they are good but sheesh.)

 

Nelson has a lot of NE character --- nice and cloudy -- soft hop bitterness --but totally unique in its own right. Never had a Nelson hopped beer like it. Incredible. Most of their other brews -- PH and Duet are classic SD to me. Can't get beers like that in NE......cause they are unique to SD....IMO of course.

 

I'll do my best.

Cheers!

 

I'm actually surprised at the vitriol directed at the New England brewers discussed here and directed at the "fad" of unfiltered IPAs that several of them seem to specialize in. In my opinion, these are great beers and super enjoyable. So are many of the other beers discussed here (like Hop Drop n' Roll or Alpine Nelson).

These New England beers, however, are also different from the IPAs that have dominated the national market recently and I think this is what the original point was about. This is a trend that seems to be picking up steam for now, and it seems a trend for which many of its most well-known (note I did not say "all" or "first") practitioners, judging from the trading forums or from the beer talk forums, are located in the Northeast.

Go drink a great IPA, maybe from Alpine, maybe from Cellarmaker, maybe even from Trillium or Tree house if you aren't too mad, and cheers!

 

NEIPA from SWUSA

 

Haha it's a joke, man, no need to get your knickers in a wicked knot. And New York is across the lake from Vermont, so it's relevant for the purposes of this conversation.
For the record, I do enjoy the flavor profile and mouthfeel of IPAs such as the ones that are the topic of this thread - my primary argument is that beers such as these are not sufficiently unique to be designated a new style, and my secondary argument is that most brewers pursue a less turbid appearance than those of Trillium and other such beers.

 

I do think there is an overall difference to a lot of the beer coming out of NE compared to the West Coast/Elsewhere. I think a lot of it had to do with Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead 5+ years ago. They were notably different than everything (maybe a few were similar enough) at the time. Now of course there are a ton of NE breweries doing it and of course a ton all around the nation, but I do think there are many in NE that just taste different than those from different regions. I've had a TON of West Coast IPAs, both old school and new school, as well as from all across the country. All but a remote few are close to what is coming out of HF, MBC, etc etc. NE tends to have a very soft bitterness, very little grapefruit/pine, a bigger nose, and of course much juicier.

I'm talking before even Trillium/Tree House; I KNOW there are more and more breweries across the country brewing IPAs that might be practically identical to 'NE' IPAs, but 5+ years ago, not to my knowledge.

Nelson has gotten a lot of talk, but asides from using NZ hops, I just don't think it is all that similar to the NE IPAs being mentioned. It's not about the NZ hops (some have mentioned it's just citra this, etc etc). Heady, Abner, Lunch, Double Sunshine, etc all use zero or close to zero NZ hops and those are your "birth children" of the NE IPAs if you will.

I like the comment about New York style pizza. It's not unique to NY, it may never have been, but it IS the way you mostly find pizza in the city and is a good description. I do think there can be some truth and use to East Coast vs West Coast vs New England, but I don't think it needs to be an official style. So I'm not on board that train, but I think NE style more or less exists. I could be completely wrong, but this is based on my experience.

 

Not what I'd call an appealing appearance. Looks like you're about to make a bunch of omelets.

As to the OP, philosophically speaking some folk are lumpers and some are splitters, the latter being more likely both to emphasize distinctions over commonalities and to call for new, more specific categories. If I were inclined to create a new designation for IPAs of the sort being discussed here (very fruity and juicy and soft on the palate, with a restrained, well-mannered bitterness), I'd be more likely to call them Vermont IPAs for the area that first popularized this sub-ilk of the style.

 

can we agree that w/out Vinnie's vision 12 or so years ago -- we might not be having this discussion?

 

Eh, I think that's a really unfair remark. The people from New England in this thread are pretty much unanimously united in saying "no" there shouldn't be a separate category. None of them are flexing any kind of attitude.

 

well thinking that Julius isnt gorgeous is just plain crazy... although I am a Green>Julius guy! NE does not need its own style at all. If they continue to own the rankings so be it.

 

That picture just looks extremely red to me. Far too red for an IPA. It honestly makes me think "malty" more than anything.