0% IBU IPA

Henhouse in Santa Rosa has been playing around with 0 IBU beers. I thought of the BA article when I first tried one. It's different--I noticed the lack of bittering from a traditional hop addition (is that the right technical term?) and it took away from the beer. But my sample size is exactly one beer so I can't speak with any authority one way or another yet. And for what it's worth my buddy raved about another 0 IBU in their series that I've yet to try.

 

Had this one a month ago from Crooked Goat called Nebula. Was interesting to say the least. Oddly enough I got a fair amount of coffee from this beer.

 

Yup. That's where I got that from.

 

IBU is a measurement of a specific oil that, so far as we know, is only extracted above 180 degrees. Zero IBUs does not mean zero bitterness. Are these beers less bitter? Yes. Does that make them bad beers? No.

 

'May indicate' doesn't convince me that you have a more valid point. Link please.
What temperature are you considering for said hop tea? DIfferent things happen as the temp goes down for what you are steeping it at.
From my own experience. I've had a beer turn out way too bitter for its own good because of the whirlpool addition being added while the water was still in the 200+ range. It did not scale up well.
I also deliberately made a hop blowout beer with about 25 ounces of hops added to after flamout for a 5 gallon, or so yield as a hop experiment for the homebrew club I belong to. Size matters. It was mouthpuckeringly bitter. But it was also very different than the kind of bitterness which happens on the front of the boil.
I also have a room temperature steep of something like 8 ounces of last years fresh hops that someone has growing in my neighborhood sitting in a jar that I can't figure out what to do with. I wouldn't not mind drinking it. I haven't brewed anything that I would want to add it to lately either. It certainly tastes like hops. But, it would be interesting to figure out what the proper ratios are to achieve a good tea of them.
Thank god for the internet, because http://www.therighttea.com/hops-tea.html

 

Didn't Brew Dog make one like this?

 

To clarify, my post was simply intended to touch on the flavor profile of this "style" of beer. Anyone who may rush out to find these zero IBU IPAs expecting some new paradigmatic shift in hoppy beer would be disappointed. I doubt many could pick out the zero IBU beers in a blind taste test of NE IPAs - I'm sure I couldn't, at least among The Veil's beers (although TBH, I think most of their hoppy beers taste about the same anyway).

 

Served from a dead opossum.

 

I'm no expert, but as a practical matter no beer has zero IBU's if there's hops in it right? Even if it's a style like a witbier that's not hop forward it's going to register some IBU's. Calling something an IPA with no bitterness whatsoever is really pretty stupid.

 

That's another good one.

 

I feel like Bearded Iris in TN is a perfect fit for you. I too love a little bit to my iPas and I feel like they've mastered the NE style with a bit of bitterness right at the end.

You should seek out Homestyle.

 

I've had several of the Veil beers in their 0 IBU series and while they are enjoyable I tend to feel like there's something missing so I don't buy them. However, I know and hear about plenty of people that go nuts for them so I feel like just because some of us think its not a true IPA or a bastardization of the style doesn't mean they're not still doing something right.

 

You missed the point. My point was that IBU measurements and bitterness percieved are not the same thing.
Also, tea steeped as low as 100 degrees can be bitter, despite what you seem to imply.

 

Agreed. These morons are so triggered by the term IPA they will run out and stand in a line. Triggered further by words like juicy, sweet, ripened fruit, flour, hazy, and pillowy regardless if any apply. Triggered further by words like sixteen, ounce, cans, apple puree, vanilla, limited, chairs, and silent .

Leads to a ton of dudes bro-ing up on line for something they know nothing about about to try to sell it to other new money bros for 3x+ sticker or razzle it on FB for even more.

I agree. When this stops IPA will stop being bastardized further.

 

Lol at people not being able to accept that there are beers made without any trace of noticeable bitterness. If you try Idontwanttobu you understand what no bitterness tastes like.

 

Lol at people able to accept that there are beers made without any trace of noticeable bitterness and still calling those beers IPAs.

Cheers!

 

You don't have to boil hops to add IBUs. Dry hoping adds bitterness. I wonder if the brewery that made this beer had it measured in the lab? Probably not.

The more I know about hops and bitterness, the less I know about hops and bitterness.

Some reading material for the interested.
http://scottjanish.com/zero-hot-side-hopped-neipa-hplc-testing-sensory-bitterness/