To hell with it...I like ALL IPAs!

Ah nice and glad that it worked out for you! But yeah agreed that the price of a six pack is steep and they will have to do something with that to stay competitive in our area. But like you found out the 12 packs are not a bad price and the 19.2 oz are reasonably priced as well.

Let us know what you think then. I haven't had one in a few months but will probably revisit again soon myself.

Yeah it's interesting because when you think of Stone you think crushing bitterness (at least back in the day you did) but the current IPA has a nice balance to it.

 

I can drink Waldo's when it's super fresh, but after a month it tends to start the trend toward a BW-ish range. Definitely a true Triple. I love seeing this hit the shelf every year. Wish it was year round.

 

As I started to read the title, I thought it was a Helles thread, but alas

 

Have you tried Barrel Runner from Founders?

 

Wish I could. I'm sure it is superb on cask. I've only had proper cask once, it Adnams Southwold Bitter, I loved it. Americans don't seem to have the knack for cask, which is too bad.

 

This line of thinking frustrates me. JJJuuullliusss wouldn't "otherwise be described as a NEIPA" it IS an NEIPA. It's from Treehouse!

I don't understand the need to qualify your enjoyment of a style by trying to draw some distinction that its not that other kind of beer that you clearly have some feelings of superiority about ("infantile")

 

I have to say 95 % of the beer I drink has IPA some where in the name. Not a fan of sours, gose pilsner or lager styles of beer. I guess I have tunnel vision towards beer.

 

I appreciate your POV, in part. What I think you are overlooking are the countless variations of turbid turd that litter our shelves, all in the name of NEIPA, or some dicklepump haze claim. The distinctions are very much drawn by the brewers, and the notion of NEIPA being devoid of firm bitterness is perpetuated by people who say things like "It's from Treehouse!" as if such a statement means anything apart from quality.

 

I don’t understand why your tone is so relentlessly negative. My point was just that a beer like JJJuuullliusss is a classic example of an NEIPA. There are undoubtedly bad examples out there as well, just as there are/were countless bad examples malt bomb west coast style DIPAs—I’m not “overlooking” anything, I just don’t feel the need to focus so purely on the negatives.

It baffles me that this style inspires so much vitriol even from someone who admitted that his favorite IPA ever belongs to the style. It’s okay to like NEIPAs! You don’t need to prove your beer cred by shitting over the bad versions of it so aggressively.

 

@nc41, @ESHBG, and @mikeinportc @John_M

I just looked more closely at my box of Stone IPA to note there was also a best by date; on the box is stamped:

“Packaged on 04/28/20 Enjoy By 08/26/20”.

I was quite surprised that the best by date is 120 days post the packaged date. Not too long ago Stone recommended 90 days for a beer like Stone IPA. When did they add 30 more days to this? Do any of you know?

Is this just a business decision to add the 30 days or did Stone actually improve their production process here?

Cheers!

 

I'm negative because beer has become such a douchey thing, especially so in the last 5 years, and I have a hard time coming to terms with that, having been drinking beer for 33 years.

My point is that it is not classically NEIPA. I'm open to being wrong about that. I also don't give a shit if I am or not.

If you don't understand the vitriol now, you never will.

 

I am not entirely sure on the when but can vouch that it's been 120 days for a while. I've had a few or their products just before the EB date and felt that they held up pretty well both in bottles and in cans.

 

Below is what Mitch Steele had to say in 2016 (he was the Stone Head Brewer then):

“At Stone, we maintained a 90-day shelf life on our IPAs. We were very convinced that that was the most that one of our IPAs could survive and really taste like what we thought it should taste like,” he said.

https://www.brewsnews.com.au/2016/10/04/ipa-has-gone-too-far-mitch-steele/

Perhaps since 2016: “…did Stone actually improve their production process here?”

Cheers!

 

I highly doubt they somehow improved their process to make ipa’s taste fresh longer. (Pasteurization/preservatives?). I’m no educated big city man but it seems like a good business decision to extend shelf life recommendations. Follow the $. Most of the Stone drinkers probably don’t have the discerning palates of us advocates. However they can read a label that says “this beer is expired”.

 

The best way to extend beer shelf life is to minimize oxygen in the package (bottle, can) during the packaging process. Maybe Stone has purchased better bottling & canning lines (or 'updated' the existing lines)?

Cheers!

 

It’s possible. I’m certainly no expert. Just speculating.

 

I am.under the impression that jjjuuullliiiuuusss (or however many damned letters it has) is very much a classic neipa. Many people tell me the good ones have a good bit of bitterness. I am personally cautious of anything labeled neipa or "hazy" because I don't tend to like them but I also haven't tried any of the leading brewers of the style, so I can't write it off yet

 

I'm with you. I hate it when people like things I don't like. And I also love to make generalized pejorative comments about them publicly.

Re: IPA : We live in a great time for beers, so many to choose from. I don't think it's a bad thing that the brewers we love use the term IPA as the marketing tool it has become. I hope the tool succeeds in helping craft brewers thrive.

 

Yeah, and this was my entire point. I don't see how much more "classic NEIPA" you can get than an offering like that from Treehouse. The "normal" Julius was one of the first big examples of the style! People let their own preconceived notions of styles get in the way of their enjoyment way too much

 

I pretty much love them all too. West Coast being my favorite of course.