Juiciest West Coast IPA?

Oh yeah, it may very well not be "juicy" enough, but it was the only thing I could think of that is even close to a mass distributed brew that may give a shot at going big on the haze. It totally may go in another direction, not be hazy enough, not be juicy enough, etc. But can you think of any such brew produced in the NE?

On a separate note, it isn't so much West Coast since its from Texas, but just had Lone Pint's Yellow Rose, and that's definitely a hazy juice bomb, although still with enough bitter bite to keep things nice and drinkable in my book. Really a stunning beer.

 

Just to reiterate- filtration is only one way to get a finished product; and having Enjoy By go 'unfiltered' doesn't really have anything to do with haze. There are plenty of clear, unfiltered, beers on the market. Even widely available ones like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

 

Sierra Nevada is stabilized with colloidal aids and then centrifuged to remove haze, which can be essentially equal to filtration though not very aggressive filtration methods, which centrifugation can't match to to excessive stress on the beer. It might be technically true, but it seems a little misleading to me to call a centrifuged beer "unfiltered" but offering no other information, as it has been clarified with a related method.

 

Thanks for the further info. I just remember them saying that they no longer filter the beer, but didn't go beyond that.

How do you think Stone will be treating their beer- finings? centrifuge?, neither?

 

A lot of brewers will say that if your beer isn't hoppy enough after filtration, then add more hops! So in a way, not wanting to lose any of that character is driven by value concerns. Remember, it's all business in the end. I'm not saying that anyone is doing anything wrong, just offering an economic explanation, which is always found in how beer is made to some degree.

I do see brewers now chasing a character that might be very difficult to get out of these new hop varieties in clear beer. I don't think it's necessary true that "every day matters" in a fermentation vessel. Fresher isn't always better and dropping yeast is crucial to get a certain mature flavor and mouthfeel that many find desirable. Overly yeasty hoppy beer can have a lot of astringency and coarseness. But beer is ready when you think it tastes best, and this differs for every beer, as well as every palate. I can't fault any brewer for releasing a beer when they think it tastes best and with the appearance that they prefer to get to that end. That being said, I don't have to personally like the way that beer looks or tastes--it all comes down to personal preference.

We are definitely seeing a short right now in appearance for expectations and I wonder if IPA could be viewed more like hefeweizen down the road.

 

I bet Stone doesn't do anything to clarify the beer. Maybe a very rough centrifuge run to get out big hop chunks? If you are going to specifically market a beer as an unfiltered version, people are going to expect it to look like it!

 

Ehh, if that's your prerogative go ahead and do that. Color correcting isn't doctoring. I'm sorry but the edges of glass don't have a blur in person. If you don't like it, tough luck. I'm not going to stop doing anything. How about contributing something to the topic?

 

I'd argue that those are the exact opposite of what is being discussed here. There shouldn't be any malt sweetness in the style being discussed. There shouldn't be much or any Crystal malt at all in these beers. Maybe a splash of C20, under 5% of the grist. Fresh Fruit Juice is what your going for, not concentrate. Some Cenntenial is OK, but small amount of the hop bill. Most notable hops for this style are newer varieties like Citra, Mosaic, Nelson, Galaxy, Motueka etc... Stuff that has ropical notes, not just citrus/pine flavors which is mostly associated with "West Coast".

 

Modern times makes some juicy juice

 

Yes! This one...definitely the juiciest

 

The yeast bite is definitely a problem I see, but an even bigger one is starting to concern me. I have had at least three experiences with diacetyl in local draught IPAs within the past month. It wasn't really detectable through the first half of my glass, but tons of hops can't cover that character forever, and by the end of the glass it was becoming more and more apparent to me. It is starting to seem that brewers are rushing their product out in order to serve them as 'fresh' as possible, especially in this newer 'turbid' style.

 

how bout kissin my ass!

 

Michael, FWIW I have noted some aspects (not particularly diacetyl) of rushed fermentation characteristics at a local brewery who produces NE-style hoppy beers. I am uncertain whether they do this for freshness reasons of to get product out more quickly since their beers are in extremely high demand.

I am personally not a fan of beers that are 'rushed' through the fermentation stage.

Cheers!

 

These beers are still fully fermented. Nothing is changed in the fermentation schedule. They just don't go through a clarification stage. I have never detected any diacetyl in these beers, or istringency. The whole allure of he style is its smooth drinkability with no harsh characteristics. At least, this has been my personal experiences with the ones I have access to so I can't speak for all breweries.

 

Pipe down you little twerp. You were the one that came at me. Contribute or kick rocks...

 

Wait, do you know what beers he is talking about and you disagree? Did I miss something? It looks like you are making assertions based on no personal information about his experiences.

It's totally possible that beers are cooled too early in maturation and that it has nothing to do with yeast present during dry-hopping or anything else to do with this style of IPA.

 

My mistake, I initially read that as a concern rather than experience for whatever reason. My point mainly is that those are brewing issues irregardless of style. You can drink uber fresh diacytal free beer provided proper fermentation practices.

 

This description couldn't be further from what the OP is looking for.

OP is looking for pilsner malt (NO crystal), oat adjunct, newer style tropical hop varieties, low bitterness and cloudy neon orange juice looking beer.

Everything you described has a ton of sugary sweetness from traditional IPA malt bills.

 

I'm really not going out of my way here to be rude. I believe all beer should be enjoyed, respected, and talked about equally. I'm not one who is going to jump the gun and claim 1 to be better than another when in all honesty each beer probably doesn't carry those intentions when being created. But, the absolute greatest DIPA ever created is Pliny the Elder. It was ahead of its time and all of these others you're talking about no question drew inspiration from Russian River in that sense. My 2nd point is how can it get any more juicy than Pliny? My 3rd issue is you live in California and you are bitching about beer? I wish I resided in California. Right now there is no place on earth producing as many great beers as California. Shame on you for not opening your eyes to your neighbors greatness offering it to you at will. Maybe you should drink wine? I live in Kentucky and that's like me asking for better bourbon from the west coast? It doesn't exist. The best dipa? Is near you

 

Hell, most us on the east coast have problems getting NE beer also...