New England Style IPLs

I disagree that an NEIPA is based on yeast. If a brewery can brew a beer and achieve the same characteristics with an American ale yeast it could still be called a NEIPA. Realistically who really knows what yeasts breweries are using. Nobody has confirmation what yeast Treehouse uses. I talked to someone who harvested yeast from a treehouse can and is convinced it's a hefe yeast because he got so much bubblegum from it. I think he's wrong but who knows.

 

I feel your pain here - been there.

Cheers!

 

If you can create an IPA with the wheat, coriander and spices, as well as seasonings to emulate the characteristics of a witbier strain then it'd probably cause more confusion to label it anything other than a White IPA... Because that is the most descriptive product that your consumers will get...

A west coast IPA doesn't need California ale yeast. It just needs a neutral fermentation profile with only small amount of esters.

NE IPA's don't need english yeast strains. The beer just needs to have the right appearance and mouthfeel... The assumption was the yeast is crucial for that but some brewers have supposedly worked with flour and other grain bills to create the same or similar characteristics.

Consumers don't know what ingredients or yeast a brewery uses to make their beer. They can just judge the final product. If a lager is produced that maintains the distinguishing characteristics of a NE IPA then what else should it be called?

 

You sure about that?

 

That's kinda contradictory. Sounds like treehouse has a pretty distinct yeast profile.

 

What is contradictory?

I've brewed WC ipas with s-04, English dry 007 and 002. I don't see why an IPA brewed with a none English strain can't be called a NEIPA.

I just brewed my first rye IPA using Denny's favorite 50 and think this could produce a NEIPA. It's a has low floccuation and leaves a full bodied beer.

My comment on treehouse is that most assume, myself included due to some recent discoveries, that they use 1318 or something like that. However, nobody knows for sure. Treehouse is the king of NEiPAs and if they don't use an English strain, which some think they don't, then that can't be a criteria.

 

So you are stating yeast choice matter?
I feel it's contradictory to say yeast isn't important, and then point to a beer with a very distinct yeast profile.

 

The bubblegum flavors are not an intrinsic part of a NEIPA though.
They can either be hop, yeast, or a combination of the two and alcohol derived. The flavor can play well with the juicy hops that are requisite for the style though.

A NEIPA will be a NEIPA with or without a slight bubblegum flavor... It is just this one brewery that is known for it.

If you can get the juiciness, softness, full bodied with the aesthetics from a beer made with american, german, or english yeast then it'll all be a NEIPA because the beer fits the characteristics of the style.

The problems I've heard of people trying to use the hefeweizen yeast is the spiciness does not complement the fruitiness of the hops.

 

No, it's really important. I feel every ingredient is important though. I was under the impression the poster I replied to was saying you HAVE to use an English yeast to be a NEIPA. I was trying to say you don't HAVE to. It's probably the most common but isn't a requirement.

 

There is a thread on the homebrewing forum in which a member used a hefe yeast for IPA and said this exact thing. The cloves/spiciness really clashed with the hops.

 

I never said bubble gum was intrinsic to the style, however I have talked with several Brewers who contend yeast choice does help drive the style.
A belgian strain would not be style appropriate either.

I think the reason people insist upon English strains is because so many pioneers of the style use English strains. I think the most important decision is finding a yeast that hits the following marks:
High flocculation rates allowing hop poly phenols and malt poly phenols to stay in suspension after flocculation.
Biotransformations.
Low attenuation for more body.
Esters for more fruitiness.

 

Yeast selection is a big part of it of course... But that does not mean that the only acceptable ones are english yeast strains, and it does not mean that a beer is not a NE IPA if it does not contain an english yeast strain.

It may take more work and practice to figure out how to get the correct characteristics while using other types of yeast. I know that temperature control (and even pressure) changes the ester/phenol profile of the hefeweizen yeast so there may be a way to get primarily desirable banana/bubblegum flavors out of that yeast while restricting other things...

But I think that it may be more likely for the bubblegum flavor found in the NE IPA's to be a hop component.

 

One of my favorites from a recent Portland, ME trip was Salad Daze from Bunker. It's hazy, hoppy and bitter with a distinct note from the lager yeast that pulls it all together. I'm glad I brought home some cans!

 

At best, it's a minor spin-off effect, like doing trying a super-hobby Pilsener style. My local brewer just made an IPL and it's... nice, hoppy-ish, but with more creaminess than I'd like. Jack's Abby stuff is the best IPL(s) I've had..was just in Boston and that was eye-opening...

 

Did I miss where someone said only English strains are allowed in NEIPA?

 

You need to actually read these discussions to understand what people are saying... Just like the Terroir argument you refused to actually read what we were saying to where you were arguing against your own opinion.

This "english yeast" discussion started when @WillemHC stated:
"I was always under the impression that categorizing a beer as NEIPA required use of English Ale yeast. Otherwise dry hopping and not filtering isn't something that was ever unique to the east coast. Sooooo not filtering a hoppy lager is a New England lager? That seems crazy to me. Google unfiltered pilsner urquell.."

That was the genesis of the argument pointing out that while the english strains are useful for helping create the characteristics they may not be the exclusive method of creating the characteristics needed for the style.

If you can create the characteristics using other yeast strains then it would be judged as a NE IPA.

 

My bad, but you don't have to be an asshole about it.

Now that we have that out of the way can you supply an accurate list of breweries NOT using English yeast strains for these NEIPA? I mean we have an awful lot of speculation and conjecture here, but the beers I have had the chance to enjoy here in Colorado use English strains.
@rscot231 @Tarheel4985

 

Also if we are bastardizing styles these would be American zwicklebiers, no?

 

I bet a well made white iPa is all hazy and fruity and utilizes heavy doses of adjuncts in the grist.

 

Ooh. I like that.

Edit: But I don't think there's a need to qualify them... I think we can just call them Zwicklebiers.