The unfiltered craze.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your position; I don't understand why people like mashed potatoes, and I certainly make my opinion known at the dinner table. I just think everyone needs to be aware that there are certain aspects of the IPA (and beer in general) that appeals more or less to people; Bell's The Oracle is listed as a 93 here, and it was a drainpour to me because it was too bitter. Bad beer? No; just entirely the opposite of what I'm looking for. A lot of people are turned off by bitterness, and a lot of people like fruit juice-like flavors (not to mention a full mouthfeel), so it makes sense that the NE-style would get popular.

I don't know that you're in the minority, but I would say that caring about the principles of brewing (clarity in an IPA, etc.) is something that puts you in the minority. Most people just care how the beer tastes, for better or worse.

Eh, PtY and HT are still in the Top 10, so it's not like we're seeing a complete paradigm shift.

 

I'm not offended. I thought it was amusingly slanted when I read through it. Again, it's just different, not inherently inferior. Who's to say what it should look or taste like? Yes, the NE style is a new craze, many of which I like. But there's plenty of room in my heart for the traditionally clear non-OJ IPAs also. I'll take any beer that tastes good to my palate.

 

As a homebrewer, I resent that remark. I've brewed IPAs, both hazy and clear, that are better than 90% of the commercial examples I've tasted coming out of small breweries. I've also never experienced anything "grainy" in homebrew - mine or anyone else's. Sure, some homebrew can be nasty, as can commercial beer, but I don't understand this "graininess" comment.

 

You've obviously never had one of my homebrews.

 

Touché.

 

Unfiltered? Meh. I'm old school and enjoy the bitterness that comes with an IPA. Some of the newer ones split the line, "some" haziness, but with a nice solid hop bite. Night Shift Santilli comes to mind. Focal banger, way awesome as well. Tried so many of the Trillium and Tree House, i will leave them for someone else to enjoy. Boston and New England in general suffers from a riches of beer excess. So many good choices these days. And new ones popping up all the time. Wheeee!!!!

 

My thoughts exactly. I'm no expert on hazy IPAs but I've had a few of the heavy hitters from Tree House and Trillium. Some good, some bad. My issue is that a lot of these beers are so similar in flavor and lacking in individual character that they quickly become boring to me. They all have great aromas courtesy of the hops, but the flavor gets old quickly and I'm ready for something new after about 4 oz. of each beer, not 16 oz. like the cans they are packaged in.

I should easily be able to tell the difference between a Kölsch, a pale wheat ale, an IPA, and an Imperial IPA but as you said, it's hard to distinguish the differences with some of these breweries. That's just my opinion. It's clear that a lot of people love the beer these breweries are putting out and I'm glad people are getting enjoyment out of them.

 

If someone has never tasted a good turbid IPA then I understand it can look off-putting but dismissing them by saying "why not just drink OJ or mango juice" is a misunderstanding. Most of these don't have fruit as an adjunct (and there are clear IPA's use adjuncts too) and taste very different than OJ even if they look similar. When I think of a "juicy" NE IPA I mean "mouth-watering", not super sweet fruit flavor. A fresh glass of these IPA's can have a distinct mouth-watering effect.

I drink a decent amount of NE IPA's (mostly Tired Hands and Trillium) and also love and drink SNPA. It's not like beer-drinkers need to be exclusive about what styles they drink.

That was a killer beer even if it's opaque. Sometimes Milkshakes are too sweet but this was (imo) the best they canned and it definitely had hop flavor like you'd expect from an IPA, in addition to the mango and vanilla. Amazing beer despite the silly pour.

 

Honestly, I don't think this question is that difficult to answer. The reasons the NE sub-style IPA are popular are multi-faceted, but not particularly complicated. People like them. And things that people like tend to blow up in popularity, at least temporarily.

Look
I think the first and foremost is the roots of what makes a beer look beautiful or appealing. There is a line of thinking that hazy beers are ugly or unappealing, but I think a large part of that is rooted in the knowledge of that visual aspect being a flaw in beer. I could be mis-remembering, but I don't recall a lot of posts about how ugly hefeweizens look.

And speaking from my personal experience, I've seen hazy beers that appeal to me--some are downright striking in the way they glow and seem to have a depth of character to the visal aspect. I've also seen hazy beers that don't--they look rough or unfinished. And I can't even really tell you the objective components that make me feel one way or another.

But worth noting, as our hobby becomes more and more popular, we're going to see more and more people who don't necessarily have the connection to those roots of knowing that extreme haze in an IPA has traditionally been considered a brewing flaw. And without that knowledge, I think people are going to be more likely to take the visual of a beer at face value.

Taste
This aspect is possibly the simplest aspect. Let's be honest--bitter, as a taste profile, is an acquired one. Much like sour flavors, no is born loving bitter flavors. So it stands to reason that IPAs with less bitterness would be popular in large part because they represent a gateway to people who previously thought they didn't like IPAs. It's something novel and accessible to TONS of people.

And as it happens, it's novel and accessible to tons of people as this hobby continues to explode in popularity. And unlike sweeter fruit beers, this subset of IPAs has fruit characteristics without hammering the drinker with cloying sweetness. It's in a perfect niche.

ETA: I think you could reasonably include the pillowy, soft mouthfeel under the taste element, even though I know it's technically a separate aspect of the beer.

Popularity
Yes, this element can't be ignored. With every trend, there is going to be a subset of people who--at least initially--sign up because it's popular. Many of those people will go on to develop a genuine interest, but there are some who will cling to it whether they actually like it or not, just to seem like they are "with it".

I list this one last because not only do I think it's the least important element of why NE style IPAs have blown up, but it's also dismissive of the many people who genuinely just like the way they look and taste.

 

On sensory analysis alone, there is something to be said for the mouthfeel. It has a density, it has weight on the palate, and it's almost like tannin, it sticks the flavor all over your mouth. You can't "glug glug glug" chug it down. It's the opposite of watery, most people think of 'richness' with bourbon/ba beers, but there is a richness to the fruit, you can feel it as much as smell it.

I've always said HF/Alchemist (and now Treehouse/Trillium/Tired Hands/Aslin) get some sort of anti-survivors bias, because anyone able to obtain them went out of their way (to the source), got them super fresh, and drinks them ASAP, and they're awesome partially because of how fresh they are. They are squeezing every drop out of these hops, and then immediately giving it to the customer.

How coveted these nano/micro breweries (currently) are increases the enjoyment for almost anyone involved (it's true for wine/bourbon/many things). I remember several years ago pouring a draft Sculpin for someone and he said "4 years ago I would have driven through 3 hours of beltway traffic to get a growler of this, and today there were 3 things on the menu I thought about ordering instead of this."

 

Yup, this has always been a point of mine. I think it's only natural that we appreciate what is basically the current bleeding edge of how much hoppiness we can throw in an IPA. The look and feel are a bonus.

 

Although I doubt there has been any formal study on beer vs juice and probably never will be, I suspect beer is "healthier" than juice. The only issue of significance as far as being healthy is concerned is how much sugar (or molecules that end up immediately converted to sugar) goes into your bloodstream and how fast. Drinking a typical glass of juice is metabolically no different than drinking a Coke. The more pulpy it is, the better to slow the process of sugar absorption. Most people don't drink pulpy juices. A glass of apple juice has about the same sugar content at Coke. A SNPA has the same calorie content but only 1/3 the carbs; the ethanol ends up having a sugar-like effect on the liver but it takes a while. There are plenty of studies showing health benefits of 1-2 drinks per day of alcoholic beverages in general, and you'd never see that with juice. Unless you're making your own viscous concoctions, it's just bad for you.

 

I don't love the style but to each their own. I prefer my IPA to have a bit more bite. I also like the piney flavored hops. It is a nice fad, but is it here to stay? I guess nobody knows. I don't see why not. hops are so versatile, the beer space is large. now if all we are seeing on the shelves at some point are NE style ipas...I think I would be pretty bummed out. life is about options and I am glad our issue is having too many at this point rather than not enough.

 

Hard to argue with any of this. Variety is the spice of life.

 

and don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the ones I have tried. I am glad they are around. they might not be on the top of my list but it mixes things up a bit.

 

I feel that way about a lot of styles of beer. I like the hazy IPAs better, by and large, than non-hazy, but it doesn't mean I don't grab a nice piney or more malt-forward IPA for a change of pace now and again. Same taste every time is boring.

 

That second one looks like it's a wax candle or something. I honestly wouldn't even know that's a glass of beer if not for the can and it being posted on this site

 

From the Church of Latter Haze Saints, "Have you photographed your turbid IPA today?" I think the appearance of these beers is a (and perhaps the) key reason to their explosion in popularity (and the hype often associated with them) and cannot be overstated. Just look at FB, Instagram, etc. Seemingly every mention of a new or existing offering has an accompanying photo of the beer. Can a NE IPA ever have existed if there wasn't a picture there to show the haze?

 

From my experience with some of the better known "Juicy/Hazy" IPAs.

1 - They are delicious.......but in moderation. First sip every time is like "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME I WISH EVERY IPA TASTED LIKE THIS". But then by the end of the glass, I am wanting something different all together. While its true that any pallet will grow tired of any style after multiple glasses/cans (have you drank more than 2-3 sours in one sitting????), I personally seem to grow tired faster of these in one sitting.

2 - Fruit...Fruit....Fruit. LOTS of beer drinkers like fruit mixed with their beers nowadays. Sours/Stouts/IPA, doesnt matter, the more fruit the better. The fruit element is certainly played up with this style of IPA. Specifically tropical fruits and orange/pineapple. Again, I like fruit beers as well but in moderation. As a side note: I dont get some of the New Glarus beers people go ga-ga over. Literally tastes like a Cherry/Raspberry Crystal Geyser.

3 - Rarity. As with lots of coveted beer geek fads, the rarity (whether perceived or real) drives a lot of the hype with some of these things

I like these beers a lot and welcome the diversity to the landscape of craft beer. But by no means has it led me to abandon a good ol fashioned super bitter/piney IPA.