Minnesota "NE style" IPA's

Finally obtained an Insight East last night. Good, but not great, East reminds me of a TG pale more than an east coast style.

 

Stopped into forager last night to try the Kusy and the Regal hops. I thought the Kushy was fnatastic. Great nose, and very Juicy. The regel I had high hopes for as a double citra, I was thinking king sue! alas i was fairly disappointed. It was pretty good, but just not what i was expecting. Both also had just a brush of bitterness which I was also not expecting. I think the Kushy might be my favorite of theirs currently. But im sticking to Beer J for now in rochester. I may just be a mosiac nut, but I cant get enough of that stuff.

Side note 2 TG bombers are hitting Roch any day now. Lady didnt know which ones, but she thought pompeii and king sue.

 

For the uninitiated, is Roch a store or short for the city? Visiting next week so just curious. Thanks in advance

 

Short for the city of Rochester, which is south of the cities.

 

How many people here have tried Trillium and Treehouse New England IPA's? What's your thoughts on them?

 

I was there last night too! Had both the same and I was really impressed. Regal, though, I thought was much closer to DDH Sue than King Sue, and Kush I though was more in the style of a Trillium beer.

 

I've had DDH A Street from Trillium, and Citra Cutting tiles. Good, but not my favorites. DDH A street tasted like raw hop pellet, and is reminiscent of my homebrew, and Cutting Tiles is more of a west coasters, so maybe that's not a good example. Of the North East Coast IPA style I've had, Bearded Iris's Red Handed is my favorite.

 

I've had several beers from both breweries, & they're just like many other good breweries. There is the stuff that is absolutely killer (Tree House Haze) to the stuff that's barely mediocre (Trillium Mettle) to my palate.

Not only that, there's wild variety within the "NE IPA" sub-genre, just as there is within the "West Coast" sub-genre. Haze had as much bitterness as any CA IPA; Fort Point was a bit weak & watery; etc. I went to a tasting a while back with a ton of Trillium stuff & a few Tree House beers, & it was interesting tasting them all back-to-back & getting the different flavors.

tl;dr NE IPAs might be generally hazy & fruity, but there's tons of variation.

 

Both are outstanding , However Treehouse > Trillium IMO. Treehouse makes near perfect IPA/DIPA'S,, the 1/2 dozen or so that ive tasted.

 

Yeah... makes you wonder where all the innovation went!

Wait... you mean copying Trillium et al is not being innovative? Well, it was when it was the West Coast IPAs that were being copied!

 

And, "the cities" is short for Minneapolis-St Paul Metro.

 

I've tried a bunch from Tree House. Most I've had range from good to top notch. I'm not a brewer, but it must be difficult to match what they're doing. Many are trying but executing poorly.

 

The difficult part to match IMO is the mouth feel , the juiciness, and the lack of bitterness with a perfectly carbed brew .

 

or just TC

 

IOW, everything!

I wonder... are they focusing too much on "hazy"? I can understand why... it is the obvious "hook" to market the beer. But, if you believe what the NE brewers say, hazy is a side effect, not an objective.

 

Hazy can also be Subjective ...its what we look for in the visual of this style. The pillow mouth feel and that non bitter aftertaste is what i like

 

Hazy can also be Subjective ...its what we look for in the visual of this style. The pillow mouth feel and that non bitter aftertaste is what i like

Edit I really like the hazy also.

 

Awesome thanks, the one posted made it sound like there was one store in particular that may get TG

 

I have been lucky enough to try dozens of different types of beer from both Tree House & Trillium, as well as Monkish, and I will say without question Monkish is doing NE hops best. And I know that is ironic considering they are in Cali, but theirs are the juiciest and softest of the bunch (outside of the really special stuff: Juice Machine, Very Hazy, Headroom, etc.).

Monkish gets my vote all day. And then Tree House is a solid notch and a half above Trillium.

 

If we are going outside of NE then i will say Odd 13 from CO or J Wakefield from Miami they are both > any MN brew in the NE Style IMO.