Heady Topper

For me Heady and Focal (to a lesser extent) are such better balanced beers than the NEIPA "champs" of Treehouse and Trillium. Treehouse, to me, is very much juice. I find it hard to drink more than one. Trillium seems to balance the flavors a little better. Heady is just perfectly balanced with the complementary malt, hops and yeast. Focal does that as well but the Citra and Mosaic combo to bring out some fairly serious juice. It's still more balanced than anything (I've had) from Treehouse and Trillium.

Someone above mentioned Heady being in between West Coast and NE and not envisioning Heady as the "prototypical" NEIPA. I had to laugh since Heady IS the prototype. The NEIPA style comes from the Alchemist pushing the limits what is now over 10 years ago.

Personally, I prefer the balance to the limit pushers right now. I like 'em all, don't get me wrong.

 

It's funny. I actually had a debate (in Atlanta of all places) about whether Heady was officially in the category of NE-IPA. I guess I think of NE-IPA in the same way as clam chowder...if you can see through it, then it's not Boston (NE) chowder. I really like HT and the other Alchemist IPA offerings, but if they are NE-IPAs, then they are far from my favorite in that style. If they are West Coast IPAs, they are near the very top of that style in my book, if not my favorite. I suppose it really doesn't matter, but since politics are off limits and as a Patriots fan who travels, so is football, I have to revert to beer debates.

 

Heady Topper is clearly the best Heady Topper-style IPA in the world.

 

Better than Focal? ;-))

 

Better than focal

 

Vermont IPA is a thing ya know.

 

Y'all need a little respect for the OG.

 

FPPA and Secret Stairs are 13$ for a 4. Beers like Lights On and Pride and Purpose are roughly 14$ for a 4 I believe. And let me get this straight: you haven't tried the beers I said but because of the hype attached to Heady you automatically dismiss my opinion. I can tell what kind of beer drinker you are........

 

Lights On is great. Pride and Purpose is released, what, once every six months or so? If that? I'd scarcely call Tree House an easily available local beer. And Secret Stairs is a stout, so not exactly an alternative to Heady, which is the basis of this conversation.

I've had most of the beers you mentioned. I simply disagree with them being better than Heady. Don't be a dick. Also, hold up that mirror and realize you're accusing me of being a hype-chaser while using Trillium and Tree House as your counter-examples.

 

Because you asked what local beers are as good and as cheap. Trill and TH are overhyped but there's no denying how good some of their beers are. And ok, name any other 13$ 4pk pale ale from Trill to replace secret stairs, like the small bird ones. Doesn't matter.

Here, lemme name some more good ones. Peeptoad by TB before the canning price hike was about 14$ for a 64 I believe, Sprout by Proclamation is 13$ for a 4 I believe, and Foolproof just put out a NEIPA called Grotto for 12$ a 4 although I don't know if it's any good.

How did you try the Shipyard NEIPA unless you went to the taproom in the past month? Because it's a damn good NEIPA and they're going to sell it for about 10$ a 4pk

 

"Most" implies "not all." I'll add Jigsaw Jazz to your list, but most of these beers (that I've had, I'll have to seek out Sprout, and TB is a fairly long drive for me), while excellent, are different than Heady. Juicier. Not as piney or floral. My first suggestion when I asked you the question was Santilli - I think it's the most Heady-esque of the beers, since it's more bitter than nearly anything put out by Trillium or TH.

Heady stands on its own. There are great local options, but to use those to say that drinking Heady is an activity motivated by hype and ignorance is incorrect. Heady may carry a lot of hype, but as you say, there's no denying its a damned fine beer worth getting and drinking when one has the time.

 

Are you comparing the brews above to Heady? None of them are DIPA. Sprout is 3.8% ABV. Everything you mentioned above seems to be arguing in @DeweyCheatem-n-Howe 's favor. They are all session, pale ales, or IPA for the same price as a DIPA.

Not taking a side in the argument, just stating a fact. I personally think Heady is great, pretty easy to get (nowadays) and the price is excellent for what you get.

 

FPPA is $15/four pack, $13 would be even better!

 

A quick correction: it was The 87, not Santilli, that I initially floated as a good, well-priced, easily-available local alternative to Heady.

 

Which is what I originally said. Heady is good but it's overrated because everyone acts like it's the holy Grail of beer.

Heady is indeed a NEIPA, it was one of, if not THE, first. That's why it's not a "juice bomb," they more or less popularized the style. Other breweries have improved upon the style by now.

And in regards to the other response, it doesn't matter what's an APA or an IPA or DIPA. What matters is how good the beer is and how much it costs. Besides, I've had 8% IPAs and 7% DIPAs. The actual difference between APA IPA and DIPA is pretty blurred at this point. Especially now that breweries are making what they call triple IPAs.

My point is that chasing heady or hill farmstead or tree house is not really worth the effort unless you're already in the area or making a fair trade. But plenty of people drive hours upon hours or pay 60$ a 4 just to try these breweries. And that shit is what I mean by overhyped

 

Stating that other breweries have improved upon the style is just your opinion. Clearly, some people in this forum feel that it is still the gold standard, and some prefer newer examples of the style. It is silly to argue about which opinion is correct.

 

We might be seeing different things... I don't see many folks who consider Heady to be the Holy Grail of Beer. I mostly see it as one of the Godfathers of Great Beer - the East Coast version of Pliny. People like to drink the beer that started the NEIPA craze and still is a very unique, exceptionally well-crafted brew.

I'll agree with your last statement - spending $60 for a 4-pack of Heady (or Julius, or DDH Congress, or what have you) is absurd. I'll happily drive up to Vermont - about six hours round-trip - and hit up Alchemist, and Foam, and Fiddlehead, and enjoy both a day of lovely wandering about and a fridge of really great beer when I get home. And I do plan to make a trip with my wife up to HF, because their beer when I've had it at Armsby or in NYC is great, and it looks like a beautiful location.

 

There's nothing wrong with wanting to try Heady, it's a great beer. But as we seem to agree upon, going to extremes to try it or any other popular brew is just ridiculous. There's enough hype to Alchemist and tree house and trillium to demand 60$+ for 4pks. And I hate that kinda shit.

There's a difference between taking day trips every once in a while and driving 6 hours one way to breweries every other weekend. There are so many breweries now, it's easy to explore breweries relatively local rather than trek hours upon hours for some famous brewery.

 

So, first you say that Shipyard is a great and local IPA and then you say the Shipyard beer you are talking about is taproom only? Isn't the taproom in Maine?

 

Bruh, just said they're about to start distributing it. Read my posts