Closest beer to Heady Topper

Drinking special brew for breakfast...Rudy can't fail...

 

2nd Fiddle and Abrasive both reminded me of Heady.

 

Enjoy By 2/14/16 comes pretty close.

 

I was at NE Brewery yesterday and don't get the hype with Ghandi-bot. It was the third time I've had it and not only is it not a great IPA, I don't even think it's a good one. DEFINITELY not a sub for Topper.

SoS the closest I've had by far.

 

I always thought Maine Brewing Another One was pretty reminescent of heady, and Lunch was pretty much like Pliny

 

I meant that it is more malt forward than Heady Topper. Obviously still a hop forward IPA, and one of my favorites at that.

 

I have had nothing that matches the flavor profile of Heady...

 

kane hop lab citra pale.

 

I'm with you all the IPAs and DIPAs are world class brews!

 

Well said!

 

LOL

 

I've said it before- All Green Everything from the can is the closest I've experienced to HT.

 

Dirt wolf IPA was kinda close to me but that is just on a personal level

 

Never had it so I can't comment. I have had some beers mentioned and can't even guess what HT is like based on the varied replies.

Have a great holiday all

Enjoy

 

Heady IMO is like BCBS, it's the median standard other beers in their class are compared to. That's true greatness, are there better? Maybe? Probably? But that's immaterial IMO. I'm sure before HT was around Pliny was that beer, but times change.

 

I'm going to have to revisit this question in the next week or two with a couple different beers, but to me Heady stands out as it does because it tastes very balanced but extremely fresh and hoppy (probably a combination of the lack of filtration and Conan yeast). In that sense, I would say your best bet would be to find beers that aren't necessarily Treehouse/Trillium style NE IPAs (those have a different profile), but ones that are simply unfiltered, and probably full of sediment.

A decent local (well, Wisconsin) example would be Fantasy Factory by Karben4. I haven't had it since the summer, but it seemed to me to have a similar hop profile to Heady, albeit not quite as full-bodied or flavorful. Stone's Enjoy By Unfiltered is another solid choice (but it has to be Unfiltered, since regular Enjoy By is a little more muted), although not quite the same taste.

To me the thing that makes Heady Heady isn't the actual hop profile (I've had at least a few beers with similar profiles) but the combination of flavor, yeast and malt. There's a balance to the beer that makes it very full from a taste-perspective; it's not as thin as a "standard" IPA, and it's not as creamy as the trendy milkshake NE IPAs, but it just tastes...right. It's not my favorite of the Alchemist's beers (Focal Banger is), but it's a very well done beer, and I think it's the craftsmanship that really takes it over the top more than any one specific thing.

Yeah, agreed here. Heady is one of those beers that really told everyone in the beer industry, "This is the type of shit you can do if you don't worry about what people expect from an IPA." I might not think Heady is the best beer out there, but we've all really benefited from increased awareness of the pros of fresh beer.

 

great ale, but nothing at all like HT.

 

To me [insert beer that isn't available anywhere outside my local area and you can't try] is very close to HT.

 

Take a vacation in Vermont and report back.

 

Abrasive and Lawson brewed Sip are pretty damn similar to Heady to me. For a cheaper and easy to find option, I've found Sucks to be of the same vein as well.