Poll: WCIPA vs. NEIPA

Yes. I am a fan of locally brewed Tired Hands Juicy/Hazy beers. I also enjoy distributed versions such as Fiddlehead. I am more likely to purchase these beers on draft vs. canned since as I related these sorts of beers are more like a 'one and done'. But I do enjoy drinking one of these beers.

Cheers!

 

My haze phase corresponded with Monterey's Alvarado Street's rise 5+ years ago. Sante Adairius in Santa Cruz did and still brews high quality haze but my interest peaked long ago and Alvarado's hype is in the rearview mirror.

If you are looking for me in Monterey these days you are much more likely to find me around the corner from Alvarado at Fieldwork Brewing drinking a non-hazy lager, IPA or stout.

 

at least 25% of the WC votes are people trying to be cool

 

We're not trying, we are cool. Join the club.

 

I looked at it very simply. And then the answer became immediately clear as a West Coast IPA.

If I could never have Celebration again that would be absolutely terrible.

 

Fashion passes, style remains.
I think you have understood my personal choice well.

 

I like my IPAs crystal clear, with grapefruit and pine notes, dry and very bitter. I don't like any adjuncts either. I guess that means I strongly prefer WCIPAs.

 

I've been on site for 20 years, and I think it's the opposite. Yes, we are a niche of a niche. But what's been popular on here has tended to be predictive of future brewing trends.

A lot of brewers lurk on here, and I wouldn't be surprised if they see what people discuss and enjoy, and try to duplicate it or increase production in their own brew houses.

You can keep brewing and putting on your "keep the lights on" brews, and also make small batches to test the market and observe how the next big thing might sell.

For example, the general public wasn't clamoring for more lagers, it was people on this site.

 

I'd be curious if you polled professional brewers what they'd say. Quoting Ron Pattinson regarding hazy IPAs, with the caveat more research would be needed. But I do echo his statement from personal experience talking to brewers:

"I ask every professional brewer I meet in the US what they think of these beers. (Admittedly, probably an unrepresentative sample.) Not one has said they like them. Even the ones that brew them."

@patto1ro

 

Other than the one you outlined below, when have you noted this?

I think it's the opposite. The general beer drinking public is overwhelmingly clamoring for lagers. And the craft lagers that have gotten the widest market are the pale lagers that hew fairly close to the mainstream beer style most consumers choose. Second is probably the heavily hopped lagers that balance the popular pale lager with the dominant craft beer style.

All the more obscure lager styles that people on here love to praise remain incredibly niche products that see scant instances of distribution.

The northeast does seem to be a hot spot of craft lager brewing, and you're obviously deep in the thick of it, so I have no doubt that you're experiencing a major lager boom. I'm just not sure your experience is representative of what's happening in the wider beer market.

 

I live in the Northeastern US (specifically Philly area) and I can indeed report that non-mega brewed lagers are popular here and for the example of Yuengling Lager this has been the situation for many decades. If you go into a bar in the Philly area and say “Please give me a lager” you will be served a Yuengling Lager.

Some craft breweries which opened in the 1980’s & 1990’s produced lagers fairly quickly upon opening:

· Stoudts Brewing produced a Helles (Gold Lager) in 1987

· Victory Brewing produced Prima Pils early on (1990’s).

· Sly Fox produced both a Helles (Helles Golden Lager) and Pilsner (Pikeland Pils) early on (1990s); I was told by the person in charge of Marketing & Sales that Helles is their top selling beer.

· Etc.

Voc C Brewing opened three years ago and I was told by the person in charge of Marketing & Sales that their OG Pils (a Classic American Pilsner) is their top selling product.

In all likelihood other areas of the US have differing craft beer market conditions but in the Philly area lagers are indeed popular here and that has been the situation for many decades.

Cheers!

 

Higher ABV beers, primarily Belgian and Imperial Stouts. Then high IBU IPAs. Then hazy IPAs.

You can use the wayback machine and check the top 250 (previously top 100) and see what was highest rated. Beers were rated higher on here first ,sought after by beer geeks, and then became more ubiquitous.

The likes of Heady Topper followed by Trillium/Tree House were highly rated on here well before that style became trendy and popular across the country.

Both those breweries started brewing in 2013/2011 respectively. Only your niche beer geek knew who they were then and sought out their beers. Same with Heady when it was first canned.

I've traveled to different cities in various pockets of the US. I see Czech and German styles that I would have NEVER seen before. Heck, I would barely see a lager period. Just look at the Lukr taps in various breweries.

This trend is still on the way up by the way, it's obviously not surpassing hazy IPAs anytime soon, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did at some point. Breweries are always searching for that "shiny new thing" to offer consumers. Can't just keep cranking out hazy IPAs in 2024 and expect to do well as a brewery.

I went to Notch's Lager Fest this weekend with brewerie from all over the country doing all these different styles there. Rauchbiers, Vienna lagers, Czech Pale Lagers of various strengths...you were lucky five years ago if you could get 5 breweries together who brewed those quality styles, never mind 20+.

 

Just to add specifics to that, at this beer fest, outside of the Northeast you had breweries from:

Florida (2)
Georgia (2)
Illinois (2)
Wisconsin (1)
Colorado (1)
Washington (1)
...even one from the UK

 

Other than hazy ipas, did any of these ever break out of the world of beer geeks?

The best selling craft beers seem like they've consistently been moderate abv, generally balanced beers (obviously hoppy by the grand scale of all beer flavor, but balanced within the hoppy beer spectrum). I know that those things you listed had their moments in the wider craft beer community, but I'm skeptical of the idea that they've ever really infused the mainstream beer culture (outside of hazy ipas).

I think you're identifying this groups collective ability to scout trends ahead of the curve more than any influence.

And your point about lagers is well taken, there are definitely more brewers making them, making them at a higher level, and making a greater diversity of them than I can ever recall. But if you step out of your craft beer bubble a little bit and just go to more basic alcohol buying locations, how many of these beers do you really see?

I can get interesting lagers in a variety of styles at one local brewery and when traveling it's easier than ever to find a brewery in the area that does them well, but if I'm at even a decent beer store I can still likely only get a couple of pilsners and maybe something interesting if the place carries moonlight.

There are a few breweries that distribute diverse lager styles more regionally, but it's not a widespread thing

 

NEIPA all the way. Not even close for me. That said, it’s far easier to find a really good WCIPA than a really good NEIPA.

 

Could always change my nickname to TorpedoDrinker!

 

As an admitted Tree House fanboy, I have to say I voted WCIPA, though of course that is dependent on what exactly I would have access to.

Living in New Hampshire, I'm kinda surrounded by NEIPA candy on every side. WCIPA's are at the mercy of distribution and lord knows that's not always going to be fresh. However, all things being equal, I'm choosing WCIPA.

For me, there's just nothing quite like a fresh west coasty. It hits so much different. And while I adore NEIPA's and the complexity of the aromas and flavors, I just couldn't see myself drinking them exclusively.

Now of course this begs the question about where to put Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead.