Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Makes sense. Is there a TDH pale ale or IPA (7%) I should seek out?

 

I honestly can't think of one off the top of my head and agree with @Coons that it's mostly hype that's dependant on when a brewer counts as their first dry hop addition.

 

My guess is cost has a lot to do with that. More hops cost more. You can’t charge as much for a lower ABV beer.

And flavor. You need malt to balance a lot more hops. So a TdH pale would be out of balance maybe.

Just my guesses.

 

I know consumers are upset if a label says NEIPA and the beer isn't NEIPA enough, so DDH gets the same point across with a different expectation.

But still, I'd like to know more across breweries about lbs per barrel of a single, double, and triple dry hopped beer. I could make a TDH 5% beer by taking the X lbs I would usually use, splitting it in three, and dry hopping at yeast pitching, height of fermentation, and before crashing. TDH, but not anymore potent than single dry hopping. It's different if TDH refers to frequency or intensity.

 

Please let's not start this semantic drift.

I don't think DDH and NEIPA are synonymous at all. They tend to be seen together, but they don't necessarily have to be. You can have non-DDH NEIPAs and DDH beers that aren't NEIPAs (or even pale ales of any strength). It is confusing and factually wrong to conflate the two.

If a brewer labels a beer "New England-style" and it is not hazy, is too bitter, is not creamy, is not soft in the mouthfeel, and is not super fruity, they have failed and should not have placed that descriptor on the beer. I know it isn't quite to the point of full definition, but come on, we all know what the style is roughly supposed to be. If a brewer made a stout and it had none of the traditional stout characteristics, we would say they failed. If a brewer is worried about expectations, take the Hop Butcher route and don't put NEIPA on the label (even if it ostensibly is); let people make up their own minds. Belgian brewers don't even put style descriptors of any sort on their beers sometimes.

 

When I dry hop a standard pale ale, I usually stay in the 12-16oz per BBL range. The main reason for doing so is that the 'clean' fermenting yeasts I use still exhibit some form of character prior to being dry hopped. For IPA's, I'll typically do 1.5lbs-2lbs per BBL, though I've heard of other breweries using upwards of 4. Who defines what the proper hop charge or rate is? Are my dry hops technically half dry hops, in comparison?

There's definitely diminishing returns, and sometimes you're bound the the constraints of your system (fermenters can't be 'mixed' properly, more dry hop = less beer, clogging, etc.)
I've found I lose about 20% ('extra') to my hoppy beers. I'm sure if I were to increase the quantity, I'd lose more. In doing so I'd increase cost of production as well as my output is reduced while my brew time stays the same. That's mainly why I have no issue with the pricing of the TDH+ beers, I just don't personally find the appeal.

 

I think I've read that the big guys (Tree House, Trillium) use upwards of 7-8 pounds per BBL for dryhopping? Anyone know any more?

On a different topic, I had a can of Marz Cryoflayer last night and I wasn't a fan. I felt it was too sweet or something, I was getting a kind of caramel/syrupy/medicinal taste. Maybe my palette is broken, but I wasn't feeling it and it was my first beer of the night.

I also had Juice Pants 7: Juice Pants Goes To College, and I thought this was actually pretty good and one of the better executed in the Juice Pants series and worth checking out.

 

damn i still haven't cracked a cryo..

 

Those guys are goners if there is a major hop shortage...

 

I know headroom is 7/bbl, not sure how the hot side / cold side is split though. Typically I think TH is right around 4lb/bbl total

 

Seems like they have a way in that most other breweries their size or smaller don’t have. Look at their consistent use of Galaxy hops as evidence (last year there was a relative scarcity of Green releases at times but those times are over)

 

Cryoflayer update: just cracked one, and I actually do like it. It has a strong sweet papaya kinda flavor that's somewhat offset by this odd bitterness (I'm assuming stemming from the triple dry hop). That being said, I'm not in any way more impressed with this than I was Crazy Straws, so I suppose the TDH phenomenon dies with me

 

So what is JiL supposed to taste like? I picked up a 4 pack and it's a one dimensional sugar bomb. No bitterness, no fruit, just sugar syrup. This is like a FR NEIPA if they let it sit for 3 years to strip away all the great hop flavor and aroma. They nailed the mouthfeel- very pillowy and soft. For the price, I was expecting a lot more (especially when the argument for the price point is the amount of hops used, but if you don't taste any hops....) . I thought their Neckbeard Nectar was awesome so I'm not trying to hate on them, JiL just missed the mark....

 

I didn't have this batch, but I felt similar to the batch prior.

 

Anyone spend a few days on the east coast and ever realize how we still have a ways to go? Consistency seems like way less of an issue out there. Other Half and Grimm used to dominate NYC and now they have tons of breweries doing top notch things. Cans seemed tough to come by still but the beer is everywhere on draft.

 

Was out there 2 weekends ago and definitely agree. Also, how many bars I was able to go to that would have at least 2 NEIPA offerings on tap. Outside of the brewpubs here it is kind of hard to come by

 

I have mentioned it before but it is staggering how far ahead bars are in NYC compared with Chicago.