What beer started the turbid/cloudy IPA trend?

Right, but the question is which was one was turbid FIRST. There's been some photos back in 2012 (which is the Hop Hands photo we're referring to) which were turbid. And certainly Congress Street was quite turbid right away in 2013. This would be before 2015.

My apologies, I wasn't clear. I meant smart phone technology, should have been clearer. For example, back in 2012 could people take high quality pictures as easily and doctor them on their phone like they can now?

I can sit at a bar, snap a high quality photo, edit it, and post it very easily on this forum. I don't think I could do that in 2012.

First IPA I ever had if I recall correctly. Either that or Stone IPA.

 

And, have you arrived at the definitive answer? Maybe HopHands was turbid in 2013?

Cheers!

 

Looks like two completely different beers, but I don’t remember Heady ever being as dark as the top picture. Lighting is always a factor obviously, but that’s an enormous difference.

 

Because Heady is the incorrect answer.

 

Heady predates both Trillium and Tree House by almost a decade. Is it as turbid and hazy as today’s NEIPS? No they’re not, but back when Heady was introduced to the world WCO IPAs dominated, and they were clean beers for lack of a better word. Heady was the first beer I has that had floaties in it, and I’m convinced that’s where the drink from the can came from, Klimmish I believe though it would turn off beer drinkers used to drinking sparkling beers. I do prefer many of these big beers from the can, I think introducing too much oxygen affects the beer, even if it’s minimal, aggressive pours do change things. But from there Trillium and Tree House, others, took a simple concept in non filtered, natural carbonation, and ran with it creating different beers. As labeled today I don’t consider Heady a NEIPA, its not close, it only brewed in Vt. Hard to say beers brewed 10 years later was the trend setter.

 

Heady got the ball rolling in that direction of appearance and dry hopping becoming accepted as normal, and is a common ancestor of all New England style/"hazy" IPA, but I wouldn't consider it to be an "NEIPA" itself.

I feel like all the discussion here is just semantic. If the question means what is the first beer that would be considered a straight up NEIPA by modern standards, it's probably something from Trillium, Tree House, or Hill Farmstead, but if the question is what beer sparked the inspiration for the substyle's current degree of popularity, it's Heady.

 

Yeah, my personal experiences with Nelson were never that murky. But it was the first beer I had consistently hazier than a hefeweizen repeatedly and (I assume) intentionally circa 2011.

In contrast all my early experiences with Pseudo Sue were nearly clear beer with very little haze. In fact it wasn't until I got cans here in CA that I had a hazy batch.

Can't comment on the stuff from the NE as I've only had Heady, TH, Trillium, and Tired Hands stuff after 2012. And (sadly) no data points for Hill Farmstead.

 

I'm open to it, not familiar with the whole scene back there so I can't speak to specifics. From what folks have said and what pictures have been posted HF seems like they were doing hazy ipas and if that's the goal post than I think heady is the answer based purely on the timeline.

If you're looking for who pushed it into the realm of looking quite literally like a tropical juice then I think the best case has.been made for trillium or treehouse. My nearest first hand experience was a drinking buddy I would run into at the beer bar circa 2016/17 who was a transplant from Mass. He was the first person I knew who really really sought out hazy ipas and he would regularly bemoan the fact that none of the west coast stuff was properly juicy like treehouse.

So in honor of Travis I'm voting tree house

 

That's easy, Heady.

 

The OP question doesn’t ask about murky orange juice bomb IPAs using wheat or oats, he’s asking about the hazy opaque beers that started everything. To this point WC IPAs were king and they were bright and clear. Then you follow the brewing and introduction timeline, and it’s pretty easy to see that Heady predates Trillium and Tree House by 10 years or so.

 

I agree and Heady Topper is not even close to being opaque.

Cheers!

 

Not by today’s standards, nor does it look like Pliny.

 

2. What brewery or beer will end it?

 

Closer to looking like Pliny than looking like turbid, cloudy beers (think: Tropicana with extra pulp).

Cheers!

 

Oh, but it never ever ends, even if hazy WC IPAs turn out to be a thing those $30 4 packs will never go away. The bad ones might go away though as poor imitations cost a fortune to brew and then they don’t sell. But there’s a slew of first rate breweries that are firmly entrenched, and people will still stand in line for hours in the rain and cold.

 

Your right but back in 2003 and 2004 it was a different animal than what was available. The beers today are just extreme examples, Heady was a bit more finesse. The floaties in Heady was a first for me, and at that time I was drinking mostly English beers.

 

This thread has indeed turned into a murky quagmire.

Cheers!

 

Make a poll and it’s what happens, especially on a style that’s a bit polarizing to begin with. Lots of good points though that’s food for thought.

 

Heady Topper. That's the answer. Once other breweries saw how many cases were being bought all at once, lines down the block and through the town, and how good the beer was (not to mention a bit of PtE / RR type "must drink fresh, from the can" advertising) others followed suit, and the rest is history. Imho, of course.