The Upcoming Haze Invasion?

Is it truly controversial? Serious question, not being sarcastic or trolling. From the feedback here on Superfan and n00b, I'd say the general sentiment on here was more of a, "finally!". Either way, I welcome the 'Haze Invasion'

 

I suspect controversial from a purist perspective and maybe from a flavor preference. Alan sums up the concern nicely. Haze is fine, chunks are not. Some NE IPAs are great...some have me reaching for the toothpick

 

Seems like anyone questioning haze should just stop by Fiction for a pour of cosmic unity and there shouldn't be any debate after that

 

I cannot even begin to fathom caring in any way shape or form what the beer looks like. How does it taste? That's all I care about.

 

From what I gather, some people are sensitive to the yeast and it creates off flavors for them. It doesn't seem to bother me, but it's apparently a thing.
There's also the argument that while all the rage, the NE IPA's aren't pulling (m)any awards. They certainly have the geeky hype-train factor, but they aren't exactly killing it amongst their peers and/or judges. It could be because they're being penalized for the visuals. However in many competitions, that can still be overcome since it doesn't factor in as much.
There's also the theory that the haze just happens to be associated with beers featuring those flavors and that it isn't really isn't playing much of a role. I tend to disagree, but then again, there are a couple that do. I think the original version of Backcountry's DIPA actually had most of those flavors and was as bright as can be. Melvin's 2x4 does, too.

There is also the theory that people are being lazy with non-NE style IPA's and simply serving beers that legitimately aren't done. I DO think that's true. I've had many a hazy beer that was simply rushed to free up space. I've also had some actual IPA's brewed in New England that were hazy, but tasted like batch #1 of the Gubna dry hopped with scallions and cat pee.

Anyway, yes, it's controversial.

 

The idea that in competition beers get judged on appearance is absurd to me. Beer is for drinking

 

I kinda see it like the plating component of food. It's only a major issue if it's full-on bad. If I had the choice of two plates and one is sloppy, that sloppy plate better taste better because it's potentially a sign of larger issues.
There are competitions that value it very little and there are still little to no winners coming out of that circuit.

 

The 0.1% of beer drinkers that are also on BA are not representative of the overall population of beer drinkers/consumers in this state.

 

It's because beer competitions are typically judging to style, usually by BJCP guidelines. And all of the style guidelines include details on acceptable ranges for color, clarity (or lackthereof), head retention, etc. I agree, for the most part I could care less about that regarding the beer that's in my fridge that I'm drinking on a daily basis. As long as that tastes and smells great I'm happy. But if you're entering beer into a competition, the judges have certain criteria that they have to adhere to.

 

I agree that it's like the plating component of food, in that I couldn't possibly care what my food looks like. Give me a bowl of brown gruel if it tastes good

 

I agree that appearance does not affect the beer. But, in some cases it is a symptom of "unwanted" aspects that could be present in a certain beer. Beer A is turbid because it has unwanted X. The appearance itself is not the unwanted factor, just what it (may) indicate. For me, I've never had a turbid IPA I liked based on taste alone.

 

I don't know if controversy is the most accurate word. I would perhaps say 'obsession'? I'm fine with haze as long as the beer's taste can stand on it's own, but I find it weird that it almost seems like a challenge for BA's to post pictures of the opaque looking beers possible. A lot of them are far beyond hazy, they are murky, and quite frankly in my opinion look disgusting.

 

This is my thought as well.

The taste is ultimately what matters, but I will have pre-conceived judgements based off of the appearance.

 

I think the my main concern is that I don't necessarily want the hazy visual effect to be associated with that flavor profile exclusively. There are a LOT (probably 50x) more beers that are hazy because they were quickly turned rather than breweries trying to emulate Heady Topper. That even goes for New England.
The hazy effect is one of several components that makes those beers special. I don't want (insert unnamed lousy brewery here) pushing rushed out hazy garbage beers in the name of Trillium.

All of that said, I think Codename Superfan is damn good and I also think it does taste really close to what they're shooting for. I'm sure they probably don't want that beer to be cheapened by half-hearted "me too" beers either. I haven't had the others, although I do recall the Fiction Brewmaster being legitimately passionate when I was talking to him at Zwanze. I need to make it over there.

 

I disagree. If it looks like dog food it decreases my interest and appetite. The saying in the food industry goes, 'you eat with your eyes first'. And I do think the appearance of the beer has some small impact on my enjoyment of the beer.

 

That beer was disappointing. In fact every beer I've had at Fiction has been a let down.

 

When my head brewer first pitched the idea of brewing Codename: Superfan, I was very skeptical for a bunch of different reasons. I won't bore you with all of the details, but appearance was definitely one of those. I'm aware that milkshake beers can be a turn-off for some people. We've worked to dial the level of haze to a level where it is distinguishably hazy and we get what we perceive are the benefits of that without being a milkshake. I think the level we've dialed has been reasonably well received by both the beer geeks (BA/RB) and the "masses" (Untappd).

The competition isn't over, but we're still alive 3 rounds into the NIPAC. If we get past the sweet 16, we'll be in some really good company.

Thanks for the kind words, Domingo. Regarding what we are shooting for, the latest batch of Superfan is it. That's our "true to type" for all future batches. On a side note, I finally had the opportunity to try 3 different beers from Trillium this weekend. Their beers are definitely a little cloudier than ours. The beers were very good, but I'm comfortable with where we are at with the haze.

 

I'm not necessarily saying hazy is bad, more like, appearance matters somewhat and some beers can be too hazy. I had an Other Half IPA that was hazy and subpar, and I didn't like Shilkmake either. Regardless, I am buying a 6er of Superfan next time in Denver for further research.

BTW Sip of Sunshine and Heady Topper are both slightly hazy IIRC.