The unfiltered craze.

I see combinatory factors:

1) Rarity. Fully understanding that much of this is forced by the amount of hops required to brew some of these beers (you can't brew them at huge scale all the time unless you've made some blood pact with a new age hop dealer), there is something about being limited to a couple 16oz cans of turbid juice that harkens moths to flames.

2) Shelf life. The life of these beers rapidly diminishes. They are not more shelf stable than stalwart IPAs. This compounds point 1 above, but many of these breweries can't risk a 3 month window for these beers on the shelf, so brewing them to a huge scale is not worth the risk. A 3 month old Sierra Nevada Pale Ale holds up infinitely better than a 3 month old Trillium Double Dry Hopped Fort Point, in my experience.

3) There is a new segment of beer drinker that actually likes juice more than beer. Or maybe it's the "cool" factor, again compounded by the rarity. But whether it's 6 pounds of hops per barrel, or 8 pounds of raspberries per barrel that mask any semblance of the underlying beer, people flock to the juicier end of the spectrum. They might save themselves a bunch of time and money by muddling some guava and galaxy hops together with some rolled oats and flaked wheat and steeping for a few minutes, but whatever - they really, really like it.

I get the appeal. They are singularly pretty tasty if they don't venture into chalky, palate-camping territory; but they are taxing. I can't imagine drinking them all the time. Just strikes me as more of a mimosa than a beer most of the time.

And hey, mimosas can be pretty damn good.

 

Apparently people love beer that tastes like juice or they just like to say "juicy". I swear people love saying "juicy". Kinda reminds me how "dank" was the new term a few years back.

But really who doesn't love tropical hop flavors?

I really like the style but I still like my IPAs dry, crisp and bitter. For me I just kinda burnt out on the "west coast" style and it's a nice change. However, now I am finding myself getting burnt out on the NE IPA trend.

On a side note what's up with everybody pouring NE IPAs without head? Is it to make it look more juicy?

p.s. I love you used "grip of it". I used to use that term all the time. Classic.

 

While I enjoy the juicy/hazy IPAs, I still love those PNW dank/herbal/earthy/floral IPAs. Recently, while I was up in Seattle, I had an IPA that had characteristics of both, Fremont Phantom Chair IPA. Beer Lab HI makes IPAs that fall in this category as well. They're only getting better and better. Their Vog Punch IPA, which was released a couple weeks ago, tasted and smelled like peaches/apricots, but also had a nice floral/earthy hop characteristic. I wouldn't mind seeing more IPAs go this way.

 

Usually followed by #BossPour

 

Now add in a fourth factor to the excellent points already mentioned by @considerbeer .

4. "Not my father's beer." How better to demonstrate newly found freedom than by embracing the new and different from what went before.

 

I'm sure to an extent it's about aesthetics and obscure look to it. Throw these beers in a blind taste, drank from the can, with filtered ipa's and you'll see something surprisingly.

Side note ;never understood how these hazebros fill the beer to brim. Like do you lean forward and slurp the beer before you pick it up?

 

My simple answer is, I dont care if its clear or cloudy if it taste good Im into it.

Yes, I do think some people have taken it too far. I once overhead in line a person say they werent going to buy the beer if it wast hazy. WTF, does how it look have to do with taste. Some people associate haze with juicy which I think is idiotic.

 

No comment on the craze, but I just wanted to add that whether or not the beer is filtered has nothing to do with these beers being this turbid. It's very easy to make an unfined, unfiltered IPA that is crystal clear or minimally hazy.

 

New age hops are turning towards more citrus and tropical fruit instead of pine and resin and brewers are finding the best ways to get the most amount of flavor out of them as possible. The best hazy beers have the haze just as a byproduct of making the beer. The chalky less than desirable ones are making haze just for haze to jump on the bandwagon.

 

If I have a friend that doesn't like IPA, I will bring them Tree House. They usually like that. You can argue that it is because it tastes like juice, because it is higher quality, or both, but worth a mention. This doesn't bother me with IPAs really. I like NE and West Coast, it just depends on my mood. It does bother me with stouts, though. Those get way too sweet, and stop tasting like beer after a point. I am not trying to drink a mocha or a frappuccino or a milkshake.

 

I don't think you took the best steps to start a "civil discussion."

It's also worth repeating that it's not like these beers are simply "unfiltered" IPAs. That label gives people the wrong impressions about unfiltered beers.

 

Sorry, juicers, I still like my IPAs with a lot of pucker power. I want those West Coast brewers to slap around my taste buds. Ruin them buds 'til they're stoopid. I'll take coffee over the fruit of the day every time.

 

I’ve always leaned towards IPA’s that have more fruity. I enjoy the actual hop flavors opposed to general bitterness. So when I had my first hazy IPA and it tasted like actual mango juice I flipped. It was so good. I had never tasted that much of the actual hop, I don’t know if it’s the brewing process or what.



I consider myself semi converted to this style now. Unfortunately no one but Burial is doing them in NC

 

To piggyback off you a bit, I wanted to say something similar...that these beers being labeled as unfiltered is not exactly all that's going on here. Many of the super chunky looking ones are, I'm pretty darn sure, being loaded up with oats or other adjuncts to give them that appearance.

Another thing I hope most are aware of is that not filtering your beer is not something new. Bell's, for one, hasn't been filtering their beers for decades.

As far as the beers themselves, I've had a few NE style ipas that I've loved, but don't know that I've had any of the super chunky ones being put out now. But as far as I'm concerned if people want to make them and people are buying them, good on them.

 

I don't really care as long as it tastes good.

It's funny though, because as a homebrewer I really strive to make my beer clear. And now commercial beers are trying not to be

 

Chunky is the most unappealing description I have ever heard when it comes to beer.

I have seen it though... I thought it was yeast "chunks." Either way, no desire to drink that.

 

I have posted in the past about what I think are the necessary qualities for a beer to be a so called ‘NE’ style IPA:

· Appearance: murky/turbid/opaque

· Taste: moderate-low bitterness with a quality that folks like to describe as “juicy”

· Mouthfeel: a soft/velvety mouthfeel

I am personally not a big fan of the murky/turbid appearance but the aspects of taste and mouthfeel I detail above are big pluses for me.

I enjoy drinking so called ‘NE’ style IPA despite the appearance.

Cheers!