The unfiltered craze.

I wonder what that says about anecdotal experiences, haha. Mine, yours, anyone else's.

 

Just another way of stating "it's just personal preference"!

 

I'm not talking about which one is more palatable to non-beer drinkers, I'm talking about which one tends to provoke condescending remarks about "beer for people who don't like beer".

Hazy IPA: it's beer, it's here, get used to it.

 

In that case, it's that the hefes you're talking about are true to style, whereas NE IPAs are drastically different than the IPAs we're used to. You know how people are when it comes to change.

 

I don't suppose it's worth pointing out to any of these people that the IPAs they hold up as "true to style" have only existed for a couple of decades at best.

 

Why do I drink it? Because like it.

 

Of course unfiltered does not mean cloudy.The vast majority of the beers I drink are unfiltered and still contain working yeast while being water bright.
A few years ago a local brewery invited to taste a 5% ABV IPA which had been given an extra 6 lb of West Coast hops per barrel.Though not quite water bright it had only a slight haze.

 

Just having fun w/my phone and a finger. You've been tricked into thinking these doctored photos look "real", huh? I could add disclaimers in the future if that would satisfy you/Jack and others from the PPP (PA Poobah Patrol).

 

Maybe it's because I don't drink these on a regular basis due to the difficulty around trying to obtain them, but I view these as a treat. I'm only a couple hour's drive away from Tree House and Trillium, and some friends and I really enjoy taking the occasional weekend trip up to the breweries to pick up some cans/growlers. We enjoy the roadtrip and chatting with other beer lovers while waiting on line.

While I've toned down a bit on the "whale hunting" for certain beers, there's something really enjoyable for me to make the trip to pick up some tough-to-find beers like these. Plus, I really enjoy the look/smell/taste of these New England style beers. I still do the same for West Coast style IPA (i.e. Pliny the Younger). As a beer enthusiast in general, I try not to discriminate and just enjoy the camaraderie as well as the beers. Maybe I will hit a point when I get tired of some of these beer crazes, but for now, I'm just enjoying the ride.

 

There are a lot of beers/styles that are not bitter. I wonder sometimes if the issue is that they're called IPA's. Maybe if they were called juicy ales or something people would be less put off by their popularity.

 

No, I just think there is a big difference between these brightly colored doctored pictures (in which the beer does look appetizing), and the reality.

Which is typically pale greenish yellow, murky, and watery - which is not appetizing looking to me.

 

That's certainly possible (I wasn't trying to imply that bitterness or lack thereof was turning people off), but I think most of the dissenters are just irritated by 1) the principles of "bad" brewing being used and 2) the fact that seemingly a large draw of the beers is how great they look when you turn the contrast up to 15 (out of 10) and post them on Instagram (which I admit is kind of a stupid fad, and I like taking pics of my beer).

 

I dunno man, I took this picture, no doctoring, and it looks pretty appetizing to me:

 

I've yet to try one that has that much orange color to it. Everyone I've had just looks like dirty water, like this one I ordered at a bar 2 weekends ago. But looks aside, my main problem is that most are too watery tasting to me - no body. I don't get this "soft" mouthfeel everyone tries to describe.

 

As I said being from Texas I haven't tried the highly lauded versions. I've had a couple of beers Texas brewers are trying to emulate the NE IPA style, and I've tried some of our modern less bitter more hoppy IPA's.

I don't know if any NE IPA's do seem chalky or if it is personal perception. But that's characteristics other people who have found a wider variety of NE IPA's say they perceive in some.

I've heard some brewers try to get the haze by adding a lot of oats. There have been rumors of some adding flour somewhere in the process. Other brewers say it's just a bunch of hop oils.

Possibly if there are brewers using flour or higher amounts of oats that's what people perceive? I don't know... And I don't really care.

I don't want to get to far into it. But outside of competitions I'm not going to judge beer based on guidelines as such... I don't want brewers to brew based on the guidelines. I want them to brew the beer that they love and they think we will love...

BUT...

As a consumer I have to make a choice as to which beer I'll buy and drink. When I come across a new one I have no idea what I will be consuming so it's helpful for the brewer to be able to have a consistent language to talk to me through.

The guidelines provide a common language and the styles provide a jumping off point in this communication.

When I am told a beer is a certain style then my mind anticipates the flavors I will find in the style.

There are a couple of beers in my area that I know I dislike and it probably is because the brewers named the beers the wrong style.

There is a brewery based on southern germany brewing culture with a "Dunkel". As in a Munich Dunkel. When I order it I get excited to have complex sweet dark malts. A lot of melanoidin flavors and such. But when I receive it I get this roasty chocolate-coffee tasting beer... If the beer was listed as a Schwarzbier I think that I would love it because when I order it I am wanting a roasty lager.

Likewise there is a beer nearby listed as a Helles. Ordering it I am expecting a malt focused light lager... A Munich Helles. But I'm hit in the nose and mouth with hop flavors and there is very little malt in it. It has to big of a body for a Pilsner but if it was listed as a Dortmunder/Export, or a blonde lager, or a hoppy lager or anything I would enjoy the beer.

Basically it's all about communication and expectations with me.

I also think that hefeweizens are beer that people who don't like beer are drawn to.
The first beer that my mom liked was Widmer Hefeweizen. Hefeweizens were the first beers that really drew my wife in as well. Many of my friends started with hefeweizens as well.

Just because we are saying a beer appeals to people who normally don't like beer doesn't mean that they don't also appeal to people that love beer and it is not denigrating the beer in question.

I love hefeweizens.

 

the simple answer...they are a relatively new thing and up until lately a rarity. I guess we will see in 10+ years if they are still the rage. I personally somehow doubt it, as our ADHD society will find something else that is "the absolute best and nothing can ever be better"

 

As with any style of beer, having a poorly-executed individual effort will sour your opinion of the style itself. I'm lucky enough to live a 30 minute drive from Trillium, 30 from Exhibit 'A' and maybe an hour from Tree House, so naturally those are the breweries that really color my opinion of the style. I can tell you that among those three breweries, the orange you see in my photo is the standard, not the exception, as is the pillowy, velvety, viscous mouthfeel.

And I've certainly had bad ones... everyone and their mom is now trying to make a "New England style IPA," and a lot of them are failing miserably to do so. Myself and my homebrewing failures included.

 

You may have had a dud. Just recently, I was able to try many beers from Sand City, LIC Beer Project, and Other Half. The great ones are just GREAT. You know it when you try it. Some are definitely better than others IMHO, and I mentioned this in other threads, I don't think the mediocre ones are being scored low enough. So all across the board, there is a certain element or perception of all of these.

Most of the ones I have seen lately are more of a orange glow


Just like with IPAs being so diverse in flavor and IBUs, I'm finding varying degrees of haze. Some definitely more appetizing than others

 

Other Half does have a fantastic lineup and does an excellent execution of the style, in my somewhat limited experience.

 

Not to veer off into photo geekiness, but digital cameras (including cell phone cameras) do NOT provide a neutral color file. Most people find enhanced color, more saturated color, more pleasing. The manufacturers satisfy this by building some level of color enhancement / manipulation into their JPEG engines. And, before digital, the film manufacturers did the same thing. Between Canon and Nikon, Canon tends to produce the most neutral JPEG, which I find needs a bit of post processing to give it a bit of "pop". IDK about Apple or Samsung, et al. If you want truly neutral color, you need to shoot RAW.