Cloudy/Not Cloudy IPA Fence

What cracks me up is when the haze craze started the chasers use to say it's not about the appearance, but now the chasers look down on beers that are not completely cloudy. After a couple cloudy IPAs I feel like I'm drinking paste. I also get a Blue Moon mouth feel and finish from a lot of the hazy beers.

 

you forgot “do they procure flop houses near their favorite breweries to improve their places in line on release days?...do they ty to convince their sons and daughters to attend college near their favorite breweries so that have regular excuses to satisfy their jones?”

 

I have to disagree I know more people closed minded toward beer that

I bet if you looked at the hops used in NE and WC IPAs you'd be surprised to see they use a lot of the same hops. The difference is in the hop schedule and technique of adding the hops.

 

Care to finish this? You left off at a crucial point in your thought, I think?

 

I mean, you made a compelling case back then!

I friggin love you, Chip — at least you embrace this in all its crazy glory.

 

Gonna put in my .02 pretty late in this thread.

Typical hazy IPAs don’t have enough bitterness to me. You end up with a full bodied weird floral/fruit blend with nothing to cut through it.

There are some beers that are very very dry and still fairly cloudy (i.e. many Stillwater offerings)

I’ll personally stick with the resiny, citrus-based, clear as glass West Coast stuff.

 

So wait, op is making a case for bottle conditioning?
Bc far as I understand hazy=yeasty=bottle conditioned.
The first ipa I had that had yeast intact was what made me like ipas, however one could argue without the sourness of the yeast the other flavors become more prominent.

 

I thought I deleted the post. I was going to say I know more people now that will turn down IPAs if they're not cloudy than people who won't drink cloudy IPAs

 

Same here. I work with a ton. Non opaque IPAs are seen as some relic of the past. It's like children looking at a rotary phone.

 

As long as your realize the vast majority of beer drinkers disagree with you, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

 

Yes, well, the vast majority of beer drinkers care more about hype and GABF medal count than they do actual taste.

 

Got to disagree with you here, unless you've some real data to back up this claim.

The vast majority of beer drinkers don't even know or care about either GABF medal counts or what's currently the hot choice or whale for folks on BA.

 

I only have anecdotes. I've had people actually advance the medal count argument with me when I opined that while Pliny is a good beer, it is not a great beer.

 

Well, a few anecdotes may be a good reason for thinking something might be the case but it doesn’t make it a broad brush generalization that applys beyond your experience.

 

This. People on here often complain that guys only drink one or two styles of beers. I don't think there's anything wrong with liking a "west coast" style IPA and still being able to enjoy the ddh hazy doubles IPAs that are very popular right now.

I love a good stout, gose, sour, IPA, etc. If it's good, it's good. Not sure why people complain about it. I went to a brewery yesterday that didn't even have an IPA on the menu. There are plenty of breweries doing other stuff so go enjoy them and quit worrying about guys who love a hazy IPA.

I drink a ton of good beers but the best beer of the year for me was Trillium Headroom. I drank a dancing gnome nobody's robot the other day that was fantastic. I really hope breweries continue to make that style, as well as others.

I notice a lot of guys making anti-NE style IPA threads, but I don't see the hazy IPA fans making threads condemning BA stouts, etc. Just drink what you like. Don't buy what you don't like. Too easy.

 

Consider it regionally anecdotally, as New England is generally not a part of GABF and most local brewers and drinkers I've talked to don't give a fuck about the medals. Around here, it doesn't sell beers- the beers sell themselves. Good enough for me.

edit: I do know of two locally renowned brewers who often attend GABF for the sake of some serious weed and beer share party time with other brewers. One sometimes submits his beer and the other doesn't even bother- it's all about the PARTY and the networking opportunities. They both brew cloudy IPAs- see, relevant?

 

Yes, you are the only special one that can decide what beer is really best...congrats.

 

@MelvinBrewing_2x4 @dauss are you guys dry hopping at similar rates as @Tarheel4985 and @rscot231 ? My guess is yes. I am afraid that hop schedules between the two styles (at least with new versions of both styles) are more similar than people would guess. Melvin* and Comrade superpower both have a nose that are unequaled by any example of neipa I have had.

 

I would go a bit farer and say that a majority of craft beer drinkers don't care about GAFB medal counts or what is hot on BA.

 

Our dry hopping rates start at 1lb/BBL for n00b and 1.5lbs/BBL for Codename and go up from there. Most of the rotating stuff we do is more like 2lbs/BBL for single IPA and 3+ for DIPA or DDH IPA.