Non-Hazy IPAs That Get Hype?

Flour is one cheap, popular way, admitted to by several third-rate brewer / hucksters.
Enjoy your premium-priced mystery swill, pompous RRShole.

 

So no?

 

How long ago was that? I haven't seen a remotely clear Fort Point in years. I don't think I've been able to see through ANY hoppy Trillium beer in years...unless they're >1 month old.

I have a picture of Heady from years ago that was more turbid than recent cans I bought last summer, I think the color even looks different if I recall correctly. I'll try to post the pictures later if I get a chance.

 

Hmmm, based on it was brought back by my friend Big MIke and shared at Hudson Ales for a homebrew club meeting I want to say maybe a a year and a half ago IIRC.

I used it as an example not to say I got a clear one, it was not close to clear, but that even one of the cloudiest beers on planet has had a variance that I have observed. I've never had a clear Heady, but I love murky beers and I have had a Heady from the cannery that after I poured it I had to think for a moment before drinking the chunky monster. There have been other plenty murky batches of heady along the way. My point wasn't that Fort Point shouldn't be considered a NEIPA, but that Heady should.

 

Yeah . . . that's most decidedly a "no".

 

Hop JuJu is fantastic. Probably my favorite non-hazy Ipa at the moment.

 

Another vote for Bright by Tree House.
My review: NOT a NEIPA, but instead more like an unfiltered super juicy, super fruity, slightly bittered, nicely malted balanced heavy IPA/light DIPA at 7.8%. Really enjoyed this one.

 

Hard to talk to hype per say, but beers like Maine Lunch, Fiddlehead Mastermind, basically any Melvin IPA, and a whole tonne of WC IPA's tend to sell quickly. People don't line up for clear IPA's all that much because there are so many great ones to chose from and most of them make lots of it.

 

I work partially at Whole Foods whilst in college. A family visiting from NY came in today and asked "We had this beer called Tropa-something, do you have it?" I knew he meant Tropicalia so I went and checked. We had 6 cases of it on hand. So I had my beer/wine guy talk to him. Ended up, he bought ALL six cases.

Especially here in ATL that beer was super hyped for awhile it's died down recently with more being available due to production increases from CC, but still good to see it being appreciated to such an extent still a few years after its initial hype.

 

It would have to blind folded... I think there would be a statistically significant difference in the two. The yeast and protein in a NE IPA make the mouthfeel and texture so different.

 

Wren House here in Phoenix recently released a beer they billed as a "West Coastish" IPA. It's not exactly clear, but not exactly murky either.


5 days later they still have some available. When I've gone up there for a canned release of a hazy IPA, I remember it selling out in hours. I don't if this batch was bigger or what, but there certainly seems to be less hype.

 

If Heady Topper isn't the originator of the NEIPA "style", then what beer is?

 

You have both the Pliny’s of course, and Blind Pig from Russian River. Common classics are Sierra Nevada Torpedo, and Bear Republic’s Racer 5, which is a really decent ipa for the price. Alaskan Brewing makes Icy Bay IPA, which I really enjoy. These are some that come to mind, and in terms of popularity.

 

Heady started the Haze. Hill Farmstead took the haze and ran with it. Bissell, Trillium, and Treehouse based their beers off HF in my opinion. The Tired Hands ruined it for everyone and in my opinion this is what so many people base why they think a NEIPA should be. Tons of oats, no bitterness, opaque milkshake like look, etc.

HF, TH, Trillium make pretty balanced beers that have a decent backbone of bitterness to balance out the higher FG and “juicy” flavor component. None of them use oats in their core beers and only Trillium uses wheat. And none of them use 1318 as their yeast.

Edward is 5.2% and 82 theoretical IBUs. It has to be that bitter to balance the higher FG.

So many of the things people think are critical to produce the style are not done by the best brewers or originators of the style.

Can’t tell you the number of horrible examples of this “style” I’ve had that are cloyingly sweet, filled with sediment, and have zero head retention.

 

Earliest New England India Pale Ale I've come across is:

(Some might note that 1877 is earlier than the recent Pabst claim of "Ballantine is America's original IPA, introduced in Newark, NJ in 1878" for their now-defunct, very short-lived & non-authentic version of that classic beer, but, of course, Pabst's claims are usually bullshit..).

If you're scratching your head at "Rueter & Alley", remember that the brewery is better remembered as the post-Repeal "Croft Brewing Co." - investors, including R&A's Head Brewmaster Walter J. Croft, bought and re-opened the facility in 1933.

 

Is this thread about clear IPAs or CLEARER IPAs that are hazy?

Seems to be a bit of both.

@wasatchback summed it up nicely.

Personally my first real experiences with the style were from Hill Farmstead (double Citra was one of them), and then Trillium.

But Tree House was founded in 2011 (Trillium was 2013) so I suppose it would depend on when Hill Farmstead first brewed a truly turbid IPA (HF was founded in 2010).

 

JK, Frank Jones Brewery was established in1858 in Portsmouth, NH. Do you know when they first brewed their IPA?

Cheers!

 

I assumed the latter, based on the fact that @honkey is the OP, and his hoppy beers are on the murky side of things. Of course, I could be totally wrong.

Nowadays, it seems tough find even a WC IPA that isn't at least a little bit hazy that also is not filtered.

 

If the question is simply about IPA (non hazy) hype - the answer IMHO would be Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, and possibly Ballast Point, etc. Big advertising budgets, national distribution, name recognition and loads of hype. I don't drink them nor have I bought a beer in a retail shop/package store in a long time - brewery only for my taste buds but if u were to poll 10 people off the street with general beer knowledge, I would guess they would say these are hyped and liked IPAs after of course their favorite non IPA called Bud Lite, Miller Lite or Coors lite. Cheers