Are all Hazy IPAs mostly the same?

Had this over the weekend, good stuff, COS that is.

 

Have you had the chance to try any other beers from Structures?

 

Yeah, quite a few. A friend of mine in Seattle sends me boxes on a regular basis. Got three GN (Luminous, Ripe, Juice Box), a Holy Mountain (Astral Projection) a Structures (COS) and a MT (Stratos) this past weekend.
Also getting Three Magnets cans from K&L.

 

Very strange thing happened over the weekend (09/14/2018) with the release of Reubens Brews Bavarian Crush.

The canning date on the bottom of can is 08/15/18...........

Normally, not a big deal. Especially with Reuben's Brewery. BUT BUT BUT............why would a brewery sit on a 'Hazy New England Style Beer' considering how focused these breweries communicate drinking these fresh??????????

So, "drinking hazy beer fresh" could be a marketing/sales technique or sitting on a hazy beer release for a month could be an issue.

There were a couple posts on different social media platforms inquiring about Reuben's canning date, but have been deleted. No, Reuben's has not addressed this issue from what I've seen. Does anyone have information?

I purchased a case of Reuben's Bavarian Crush and this information is somewhat important. BTW: as of Sunday 08/16/2018, it's drinking beautifully!!!!

 

Maybe the guy who set the dating machine made a typo? Maybe they sat on it until they thought it was ready? Maybe this freshness fetish is misinformed consumer bullshit? Maybe it's time travel beer? Maybe it's something I haven't thought of?

 

I thought Crikey Crush gave off way too much hop burn - like a “burning over-ripeness” in the back of my throat, but it did improve - i.e. less burn - after it had a few weeks on it, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they sat on it.

Like beertunes mentioned (the possibility of) above, I’m starting to question the freaking out over freshness for hazy IPAs lately. I still have a few cans of Hop Idol remaining, and the can I had on Friday tasted great. Without a time machine for a side-by-side, we’ll never truly know, though.

 

I don't know why it ever became a thing, some hazy beers absolutely taste better with a few weeks to a month on them. I've had some that oxidize a lot quicker than others, which usually has to do with a mobile canning line, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

Yep, I'm just about ready to throw the towels in on NEIPA Tried three yesterday, all forgetable over sweet cloying messes. Had to chug a pilsner to get the taste out

 

I'm not sure what the explanation is either, but if you cracked a can right away and "it's drinking beautifully!!!!", I would be thanking Reuben's, rather than implying anything like underhandedness on their part. As others have stated, this style often benefits from sitting for a few weeks or more, to let the harsher compounds break down and fade in the examples which aren't perfect out of the gate. If it wasn't just a simple typo, they did us all a favor by holding it back.

Also, today is 09/16/2018.

 

Please don't misunderstand. No way is this question implying Reuben's did anything underhanded.

The marketing/sales technique comment is quite genuine. This is a tactic used in the micro/artisan coffee industry to move bags of un-ground coffee beans off the shelves. Other industry's do the same. But, I figured this was a legitimate question because almost every single brewery will stress drink new England Style Hazy ASAP!!!!!! Again, Reuben's is a personal favorite, but dates do matter to the consumer for various legit reasons.

Yes, the date coding could be wrong. But I figured it would have read 08/12/2018 or 08/13/2018 if that was the case.

I do agree this whole "drink fresh" philosophy is BS to a point. You hear stories about the hazy's turning clear or the flavors completely turning in the opposite direction. So for the last time, is this not a valid question considering the so-called delicate nature of 'Hazy Fruit Bombs'?

 

Well, gotta man-up and admit my concerns were a waste of time! Reubens Brews responded and communicated it was simply a date coding mistake they were unaware of.

The canning occurred on "09/14".

 

I'm definitely in the I prefer most hazy ipas 2-3 weeks after release camp. A lot of them get canned and released pretty green

 

Tried Francis Fields of Green today....meh. I think I am done with Hazy's unless I know it's going to be good ahead of time .

 

Picked up deschutes fresh haze at mid Columbia wine and spirits.This one definitely is unique (doesn’t taste the same). Not really hazy (in appearance) in my book and if you like oranges, you’ll like this. Not my cup of tea. Do enjoy fresh squeezed, though.

Rant start - In other news, ft. George 3-way showed up sometime this week at mcws. Now I am a fan of this hazy. But I know this hasn’t been canned for awhile (I could be wrong?). Out of curiousity I picked a 4 pack up to check the date. Every can in every 4 pack there had the date rubbed to be an ink smear. Who does this shit? The store? The distributor? I hope not ft George. I am tempted to go back (for science), but I feel in principle, I can NOT support this type of shenanigans. - end rant

 

FWIW, the final 2018 3-Way canning was 9/5. I can appreciate a refusal to support ink smudging shenanigans, but they may be just fine.

 

Hmmmm. For science, perhaps.

Edit: But, for some reason I am doubting they are from 9/5. The only place to get 3-way was a local Albertsons (not all Albertsons, one Albertsons; at least on my exploratory beer runs) way back in June. Once they sold out (in 2 days), another shipment never came. Hence, my surprise to suddenly see it appear at mcws.

 

Great Notion and Modern Times may get the hype but for my money Ft George might be making the best hazy IPAs in Oregon. Picked up 4-packs of Crysknife and Field of Greens Frances and found both of them to be excellent. Note however that both lean heavily into juice and feature a very pillowy mouthfeel, so if you like more bitterness or bite in your hazy IPA you might not care for either.

 

Hi Jason - I’ve just read this post. The irony of all of this is that we literally canned this beer on the day of the release! We were still labeling the batch when the release started, it was that fresh. My team literally just printed the wrong date on the can. And we’ve taken measures in our process to ensure that doesn’t happen again! BTW, I never saw any other posts on social about this issue - yours was the first I saw, and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

As for the freshness, I agree fresh is best with hazies. But the yeast needs to drop out for the beer to be soft, hence you can get hop burn if it’s too young. We let our hazy IPAs sit in the tank cold for a number of days longer than our standard IPAs to minimize this, so you shouldn’t have to worry.

Thanks and apologies for the confusion!

 

I've had the smudged dates on 3-Way cans (and beers from other breweries), I doubt it was anything nefarious.

 

Recently read that 3 Magnets Woohoo should be available again soon...