The New School IPA

Mil-Spec Black IPA

Had a sample of at black ipa at the brewery i volunteer (backward flag) and it was just huge cantaloupe and guava and mango. No stout like quality to speak of just juicy tropical ipa. Which is a feat in itself to brew a pitch black beer with that flavor and zero roast zero coffee

River Horse Hippotizing

Really hazy. Creamy. Tropical fruits. Straight orange juice with a solid beer behind it.

 

I'm a bit hazy (haha) on how this style is is defined, but a few breweries in the Seattle area are doing this. Cloudburst is the best IMO. Also fresh hop ipas also give a great balance of fruit and dankness.

 

I totally agree we are seeing a lot of breweries across the country bring elements of the style together to present exceedingly aromatic IPAs with "juicy" characteristics as well as subtle dank and resin notes. On the west coast I think mostly of Cellarmaker, Fieldwork, Societe, and Modern Times. On the east coast Triple Crossing, Ocelot, Singlecut, and (believe it or not) Community Beer Works in Buffalo, NY come to mind (definitely check them out!).

 

I loathe them. Well, that's probably too strong a word, and I'd definitely take one over, say, a Bud Light, but I have way better things to do with my limited time and money.

In the end I'm just not willing to make the tradeoff between cohesiveness and clarity of flavor on one hand and a short burst of intensity on the other.

 

Agreed... I've had a few and they all reminded me of fucking orange juice... I understand the appeal for some but they just don't do it for me...

 

I'm merely amused at the pendulum effect going on here for people who seem to exclusively just drink IPA's.

 

I've had enough NE IPAs to decide the style bores me. Lack of structure and honestly low depth and complexity of flavor. And before the NE kgb comes to throw me in the gulag, yes I've had trillium and your beers out east. Sorry just vastly overrated to this guy. I don't need this style blended into my ipas

 

Rushing Duck lately has gone to a clearer look for their hoppy offerings. Both War Elephant and Divided By Zero were almost clear this latest batch. They use 007 for all their hoppy offerings, and they used to be quite cloudy.

I do exclusively drink IPA. Oh, and also every variation of every other style I can find. Will be on the lookout for the pendulum effect

 

[QUOTE="cavedave, post: 5031198, member: 307613]I do exclusively drink IPA. Oh, and also every variation of every other style I can find. Will be on the lookout for the pendulum effect [/QUOTE]

That's spelled "inclusively." You, like many of us, are a practical drinker, i.e. Drink practically anything. :-)

 

I really love the latest DBZ, and regret only getting the one 4 pack. Imo, it's not in this substyle. Nor is Heady or SOS. It's not just about the haze, but also in the overall construction and treatment of the malt profile.

 

@HopsintheSack posted in the Homebrew forum:

“In my eyes if West Coast style is one side of the rainbow and Trillium/Tree House is the other side, Alchemist/Lawson's/Hill are the best of both worlds.”

This pretty much mirrors my thoughts on the ‘spectrum’ of American style IPAs. I enjoy drinking West Coast style IPAs (e.g., FW Union Jack) and I enjoy drinking the so called “NE” style IPAs but for me the ‘sweet spot’ are the hoppy beers of Hill Farmstead (and Alchemist).

Cheers!

P.S. I have not yet had the pleasure of drinking Lawson’s beers.

 

I've said it before, and I'm saying it again; these beers are IPAs for people who don't like IPAs.

 

I can provide at least one vote for "People who got burnt out on the excessive focus on bitterness in IPAs".

Interestingly though, my palate has been drifting back to craving the bitterness again lately. Or perhaps that's not actually very interesting.

 

And is there anything wrong with that? A lot of people don't like beers that have intense bitterness. New hop varieties are prized for their interesting aromas and not for their bitterness. The whole IBU race was the dumbest thing to happen in American brewing since lite beer and I'm relieved that we have moved away from it to beers that celebrate hop aroma over bitterness. It all comes down to balance, and everyone has their own idea of what that is, so not everyone will like everything. I find some newer IPAs to lack enough bitterness to be properly balanced and think that there were already plenty of lower-bitterness IPAs being brewed before the current obsession with turbid IPAs. I think we are in a period of more experimentation that will level off soon enough, possibly with some more regional distinctions developing again after a prolonged period of West Coast IPA cultural hegemony.

 

I think Heady Topper is a perfect new school IPA. Maybe Clown Shoes Space Cake. A lot of IPAs are slightly hazy with a blend of those characteristics. I'm not sure the NE-style IPAs are always missing the "resin (dank)" notes either.. In the end I still prefer the good New England style IPAs for their taste, and not just to be a homer. I was honestly a bit let down at Heady after having loads of Trillium, but seeing that it came out in 2004 before the new hop varieties and hopping techniques, etc. I can understand the hype behind it. It has a great hop profile and malt flavor, which made it seem very balanced to me. I just prefer to have more juiciness and less bitterness. (without the actual juice or fruit added, though fruited IPAs can sometimes be good)

 

But shouldn't that be the difference between Pale Ales and IPAs?

The name IPA is being slapped on every hoppy beer since that seems to be what sells.

 

No, there's nothing inherently wrong with the beers, but there is with the name. Call 'em something else. You wouldn't give your friend a watermelon and say "check out this new variety of apple", why do it with beer?

Marketing. Anything labeled IPA will sell, so of course brewers will stretch the truth and call a beer that's clearly not an IPA, an IPA, because it will help sell that product.

 

I had some Tired Hands Pineal courtesy of @JWQ, and it was delicious