MN Brewer's attempts at NE IPAs

Blissful Ignorance is good in its own right, but I would not consider it NE IPA style.

 

To catch this thread up to the one that imploded, most people thought every one of these beers were poor examples of the style (although not poor beers).

 

Blissful Ignorance, & Cone Gnome both MN 2IPA,'S are 2 of the better ones ive tried, but neither are NE IPA'S, the closest ive had from MN in style to NE was Stupid Good, in color/texture,taste & mouthfeel to say Treehouse. IMO of course.

 

Cone Gnome is from Wisconsin.

 

It's actually, "once more unto the breach." Not into.

 

Had a small share tonight. Sampled a couple Treehouse and Trillium beers against DDH Sue, Dreamyard, and Insight East. I had tried the Dreamyard, Sue and east prior to the others and thought they were great NE IPAs. However in direct comparison though, other than the DDH Sue, they definitely are not NE styles, mainly in mouthfeel, clarity, and bitterness (what else is there right?...). East and Dreamyard were the definitely the most different. DDH Sue had the mouthfeel and haze, but also had more bitter than the Treehouse beers (Alter Ego/Green) and Trillium (DDH A Street/Scaled Up). That said, I enjoyed the Sue the best...

DDH Sue>Alter Ego>Green>East>Dreamyard> A Street

 

Unto the breach, my friend, unto the breach. The English **** in me wants to remind you the quote from Henry V is "once more unto the breach".

 

Forager, some of the best examples of NE IPA's being brewed in the state right now. Availability changes often but you can find one on tap most of the time.

 

Lupulin Batch 100, now known as Hooey, is closer to a NE IPA than Blissful. Not super hazy though.

Disgruntled and Forager and the 2 best examples in MN currently.

 

I love DDH Sue. I was at a beer event two weeks ago, and Toppling Goliath was there. We were talking about DDH Sue and I told them that I had not had any IPAs from New England, but was willing to put it against just about any of them. One of the guys responded that they brewed with the guys from Tree House and allege that the style came from TG. You be the judge of fact or fiction.

 

Is brewing this style of beer that hard? Hell, I get the majority of the population still drinks Coors Light and Mich Golden Light, but why is it taking this long for MN to get in on the action.

Is it a MN thing, swing for average and not home runs?

Is it snobbery among brewers? Are they worried about being labeled a copycat? Capacity issues? Not capable right now?

For ex. Top Goliath, their bombers are awesome, hunting for them is a pain and the format sucks. When I still see 4pk Bottles of rover, nugget, and dorothy, you're hurting your brand. Florida sue is good but not great.

 

Perhaps. MN brewers are trying to make their own beers, and not copy someone elses?

 

I've been lucky enough to try a lot of NE hops lately due to a buddy who works on the east coast during the week. I just had "The streets" last night and have had quite a few other Trillium/Tree House/Other Half beers lately. I was able to compare to Blissful last night and feel it's very close, but not "There". It's an amazing beer and unless I had them side by side like I did, I'd call them on par with each other. Either way, I wake up with a headache the next day.

 

It's been talked about ad nauseam, but the difference (so far) between most MN beers and those actually brewed in the NE part of the country is the soft mouthfeel and juicy hop presence without the bitterness. We all know that. Most beers mentioned in this thread and the previous dumpster fire of a thread range from good to damn excellent, but just aren't there. It is what it is. Disgruntled. Like 1 forager beer ever. And TG (not MN) bombers are there but that's it. Not an insult on the beer quality just not this mythical "NE" style

 

Had the Insight 4 pack. West was actually the very well done beer of the two and IMO East lacked. Dream Yard and Blissful were nice but not wow beers at all.

The TG bombers still routinely kill it (DDH, KS, Sosus etc) for juicy, hazy, low bitterness treats. Scorpious Morchella (sp??) Should be coming soon, is worth the trip to Decorah and may be the best of the bunch.

In fact of all these type beers I have tried Iowa rules the category in the Midwest with equally solid offerings coming from 515, Pulpit Rock etc.

When I get the opportunity maybe Forager & Disgruntled will change my mind....

 

Oh for sure. Was mostly just a summary

 

Disgruntled Stupid Good WILL change your mind...it is Stupid Good!
Try to get you hands on a growler!