Minnesota "NE style" IPA's

Agreed. Drank Moon Hops on Assassin Day and it easily held it's own up against Loopy Lyn and King Sue.

 

That's big praise! I look forward to trying this Moon Hops you all type of!

 

Had Haka and daze ealier, pretty solid. No nose on either of them what so ever, interesting. Haka had the craziest caramel color I've ever seen.

 

I had zero problem with the Sysiphus bottles I bought at Zipp's last week.

 

Likewise- mine tasted just fine!

 

Haven't read the whole thread so don't know if it has been mentioned but Fulton's Grog is an excellent example of this style. Hopefully this becomes a regular for them!

 

Anyone try the Bent Paddle Valve Jockey yet? I heard bottles are $10+ so just checking to see if it's worth it.

Also, Grizzly's seems to have a string of Disgruntled on lately. Reaper, then Lingerer last weekend (fantastic), and now Rabid Dog.

 

Over the last week, I made my way to Fulton, Wild Mind and Modist to try their respective NE-Style IPAs. I felt that Fulton Grog was the closest to style, but I enjoyed all three of them. Grog had a nice hop character with some tropical notes, mild bitterness, smooth mouthfeel. Not quite as big of an aroma or flavor punch as say Tree House or the other big names, but quite good. I hope they put Grog in 4 packs.

Wild Mind's Triple IPA was perhaps the most visually appealing of the three. It had a brilliant golden orange color with the stereotypical haze. It was also the most unique. It is unlike any other NE-style IPAs I've had, mostly because of the yeast character. The fermentation didn't seem as clean as is typical for the style, but given Wild Mind's brewing focus on farmhouse styles, that is probably intentional. The higher ABV was also noticeable, but not in a bad way necessarily. Fun to try for sure.

Modist Deviation 002 was also enjoyable. It had the assertive aroma (stone fruit and oranges) I like in the style. Flavor was more citrus than tropical. The finish seemed a bit dry and maybe that's why I thought the bitterness was a slightly more pronounced than I prefer for NE-Style IPAs.

These are just my personal impressions after trying them each once. Your experience may vary. If you haven't tried them all yet, I recommend it! Let me know what you think.

 

I thought Fulton Grog was great. Hope they put it in cans as well.

 

Very well put, @jrsaffert - I agree that Grog is my favorite of the 3.

While I would love to see Grog in 4-packs, in my mind another aspect of the NE Style craze is that the hyped breweries tend to capitalize on FOMO by experimenting a lot, rather than having one beer as a flagship of the style. I realize that might be more difficult to do here since breweries can't do can releases on-site like other states.

I don't want to encourage the long can release lines that Tree House, Monkish and others have, but I have to say that when I lived near Other Half, we used to stop by the taproom almost weekly and it seems there would always be at least one new IPA on tap. I would love to see Fulton (or Modist or Wild Mind or whoever) not worry about having a staple NE Style IPA and instead give us more variety within the style. As much as I enjoyed Grog, I won't visit Fulton week after week for the same beer.

 

I am considering going to the Winter Beer Dabbler just to try all of the NE-esquire IPAs in a row. Disgruntled and Junkyard will be absent, but this is what I pulled from the beer list:
Bent Paddle - Valve Jockey
Forager - Hip Hops
Fulton - Grog
Grand Rounds - Mosaic IPA (they do a NE version, but don't know which one they are bringing)
Lupulin - Hooey Hazy IPA
Modist - Dreamyard
Wild Mind - Triple IPA
Bonus: Drekker - Wheez The Juice

 

Nice... sounds like a killer lineup for sure. Couple quick things: Hip Hops, although absolutely delicious, is not a hazy NE style IPA (unless they redid the recipe). Also, Grand Rounds just brewed their regular Mosaic IPA, so I am guessing you won't see the NE version of that either. Just a heads up is all!

 

I have to say, I'm fairly confused how Wild Mind's Triple IPA keeps making it into this thread. I like Wild Mind quite a bit and think they hold a lot of promise. I thought that beer was decent, but far from the style of this thread. The only elements it seems to share with NE IPAs is that it is hazy and hoppy. Otherwise, it is extremely dry (bordering over-attenuation? Idk the final gravity), not juicy or creamy, and presents with bitter hop bordering on astringent (not using that in a negative way, necessarily).

Forager is getting close. Disgruntled is knocking it out of the park. Junkyard has fabulous beer, but hasn't quite gotten to the NE Style yet, though they are getting closer with the shake-o-matic series.

 

Moon Hops from Forager is pretty damn New England-y to me.

 

I brought it up simply because as you say, it's a hazy, hoppy beer that they call an IPA. Given that, I think it fits in the discussion even if it's a far cry from the typical NE-style IPA. I certainly do agree that it is pretty much incomparable in reality though.

 

Fair enough.

 

Drinking it now. I'm sorry to say, in my humble opinion, not worth it. Certainly not a "NE Style" (which I'm not sure if it's billed as such) and generally lacks aroma or flavor to justify the price point. If I had paid $15 for a six pack, I probably wouldn't be complaining though. But by all means, try it. Maybe it's your cup of tea.

 

Erik Wood did a review of a pilot batch of a Barrel Theory DIPA. Seems to fit in this category.

 

I'm so damn excited for BT. I live close, frequent the area often, and the beer Erik reviews sounds incredibly good.
Looking at all my posts, I also seem to be a cheerleader for the East Side.

 

'Haze for fucking days". LOL. I gotta reuse that.
And to keep on point, I can't wait for BT to open!