Tier Ranking all the NEIPA Breweries

Fair point, my friend. Perhaps once their CEO is removed from the company (maybe he has been already, getting caught up with 70 notifications currently lol) then I will try some more of their beers to see how they fit in this tier list. Cheers!

 

I got your back here:

Unattractive, dull, unimaginative, boring, copycat, nearly identical, one-trick-pony, UGLY, monotonous, grotesque, training-wheel "beer", murky mess, dirty, Kate Moss bodied, and pointless.

Within any style there are going to be more similarities than differences, sure, but, these Murkbombs take the blue ribbon for being nearly identical across the board. The colors range from 5 Alive 'juice' to Babyshit Beige, they smell like stale, off-brand froot loops, and the presence of grain scents or flavors doesn't seem to be a consideration.


That work for ya? Glad to help.

 

I grabbed three of them from Tavour last fall. Forever Nelson, DDH space diamonds, and double space cut. None stood out. I've had beers from Outer Range, Old Nation, Equilibrium, and Weldwerks that blow OH out of the water. I think it was ON deep earth that really blew me away.

What NEIPA started NEIPA? I've always argued Heady Topper, NEBCO FBD, and Alpine Nelson all really made moves in the NEIPA direction when the IBU wars were in full swing.

 

What kind of malt presence do you look for?

 

I personally would not describe my next comment as "name calling" or "hatred":

One aspect of the Juicy/Hazy IPA sub-style which is unattractive for me as regards packaged (i.e., canned) is that these beers are extremely sensitive to age. Even a brand that is canned under very good conditions (i.e., extremely low Total Packaged Oxygen value) is only 'good' for a few weeks. Otherwise the effects of oxidation (e.g., hop fade, beer darkening, etc.) is evident and the beer just doesn't taste 'right'.

For folks who can drink these beers at the source (e.g., me at the Tired Hands brewery/taproom in Ardmore, PA), that is the ideal way to go.

Cheers!

 

So stupid. You even used the term "murkbombs" in the thread with the guy just getting back into beer asking for NEIPA recommendations.

It's childish as hell.

 

Yet accurate.

 

It's almost as childish as calling someone stupid... almost.

 

It's kind of his shtick. You learn to look past it over time lol

 

So I've tried NEIPAs from a lot of the breweries mentioned in this thread: Treehouse, Trillium, Tired Hands, Other Half, Singlecut, Bissell Brothers, Finback, Aslin, Sloop, Interboro, The Veil, Toppling Goliath, Burial, Fiddlehead, Alchemist. Most of these it's been several different beers.

Mostly I've come away disappointed and wondering what all the hype is about. Some were watery, some terrible hop burn, others cloying, or just no different than most beers of this style.

Sorting all of my reviewed beers by highest score, the top few hundred are mostly stouts, barleywines, porters, strong dark ales, so obviously those are the styles I prefer most. But these are the NEIPAs I have reviewed with the highest scores that made it into my personal Top 200 of reviewed beers:

Alchemist - Focal Banger 4.53
Tired Hands - Eviscerated Pathway of Beauty 4.52
Finback - Oscillation 015 4.49
Bellflower - Hexology 4.46
Other Half - 2nd Anniversary DIPA 4.4
Tilted Barn - The Other One 4.4
Four Points Brewing - Nightmoves 4.4

But it sounds like some people wouldn't consider Alchemist beers "hazy" enough to count? With Tired Hands I think their most popular beers like Hop Hands and Alien Church aren't very special. Finback's flagship IPA was one of the worst hop burn beers I've drank. Other Other Half beers have been good but not great to me.

 

As someone who somewhat regularly drinks th, hf, oh, and previously trillium, imo, tree house is leading the chase. For the most part, I only drink th neipas, if I’m heading to hill for non neipas, of course I’ll grab some, but it’s not the main draw.

I enjoy all types of beer, I mostly drink neipas, apas, lagers, and pils, and of course the occasional stout and barleywine, I feel for those who can’t enjoy a good neipa. I understand what people mean when they say cloying, but if your palate can open up, they’re so delicious.

 

Beer should be drank fresh anyway. I think the NEIPA trend just highlights this. Over the last couple years I've scheduled my trading/purchases to ensure I can drink any IPA in my fridge before it gets a month old, regardless if its a west coast IPA or a NEIPA. I bought a Kern River Citra at about 5 weeks old since I've never had it before and while it was solid you can tell it would've been significantly better fresh

 

it’s not that they aren’t “hazy” enough, they’re dry and bitter. Alchemist makes amazing beers but they just don’t fit the modern archetype of a NEIPA

 

How can you "tell"?

 

I really wish alchemist would take a swing at a more modern neipa

 

Yes, but some beer styles are more resilient than others. For example I enjoy drinking Stouts and Porters and if those beers are several months old on my local beer retailers' shelves I am A-OK with buying those beers. Earlier today I purchased a six-pack of Goose Island Sofie (a Saison) which was packaged last October. I placed that six-pack in my cellar and will wait a couple/few more months before I drink the first bottle from that six-pack.

In contrast a Juciy/Hazy IPA needs to be just a few weeks from packaging (canning) for that beer to be 'good'.

Cheers!

 

SARA used to make top tier IPAs, but they also fell from grace after expansion. Still good, but nowhere near a few years back. I need to try Tree House and more HF.

 

Really? I've only had them recently but people seem to have been complaining about SARA IPAs for a while