Judging American IPAs

I may be on the greener side of things, but i dont know how now adays you could throw all American ipa in a single category. There is such a huge difference between that label and where the ipa has been taken to different levels, between west coast, east coast and all in between, how could you judge a traditional vs a juice bomb ? And who comes out on top? Its all preference. I personally live within the grabbing distance of heady, fiddlehead, tree house, trillium, singlecut, sloop, equallibrium etc and can personally say I would choose them over a pliny or anything west, but thats me, i think the category needs subdivision as soo many great brewers are really starting to carve what was an "ipa" into their own little piece Of a hometown pride type of brew

 

I don't really put alot of stock in what judges say about beer anymore. I have stewarded enough to realize that most of the judges have their head up their ass when it comes to beer. The last set of pale ales I got to sit in on left me with the impression that the standard is snpa, liberty, and maybe some old stone brew. The beers that won our table were just abbrasive, they lacked the flavor and aroma ipa has developed as a style over the last couple of years. One beer I liked had utilized citra, the judges commented on the fruity esters being out of style...

 

Personal and market tastes are changing faster than the BJCP guidelines. I suspect that when it was written, SNPA was a spot-on example of a BJCP IPA and a great example of a favorite IPA in the marketplace. NEIPAs seem to be market favorites now and that probably changes how an IPA similar to SNPA is evaluated by a BJCP judge, even if the guidelines haven't changed.

What qualifies as a 'modern craft beer example' of an IPA these days? SNPA? The highly sought-after NEIPAs that receive limited distribution?

 

I say:

All things BJCP are a crapshoot. Need clarification? I'll say it again. All things BJCP are a crapshoot.

 

I'm still waiting for Purple IPA.

I like IPA and all its variants. I just brewed a Double IPA. However, I also don't think it is the end-all OMG that American craft drinkers and marketers make it out to be. Taste about 10 examples and you've tasted about 95% of them.

 

Wow, so much to cover here. #1 I'd say that an American pale ale does not have to have a dry-hopped aroma, but that there should be some hops - via late kettle additions. That's all OK by me. Dry-hopped would be nice, but not necessary.

As to "dry-hopping resulting in grassiness", I generally disagree with that as a cut and dried statement but I can see where he's coming from. There are plenty of dry-hopped beers where I don't find that though, so I'd have to say that that's something that would never pass my lips in such a bold, straightforward statement.

As to a judge not being familiar with the NEIPA style, I'm a little surprised that's the case right now in 2017, but back when Tired Hands first opened I wasn't aware of the style either. I said "As a brewer I'd be embarrassed to put this out", although that was based as much on the thinness of the beer as the appearance. Keep in mind, there are a lot of new people getting into judging now.

Finally, and I think this is what you're getting at, the IPA category is too full and complicated right now. There are overlaps, and there are judges who don't understand everything. But it's like everything else, and you have to make it work. I'm sure the BJCP is working on updating their guidelines, but even then you can't have everything - it would just be impossible to do.

Finally, the BJCP is not perfect, just as people are not perfect. I've judged at too many tables where I've just had to roll my eyes and let it unfold because of the conflict between strong personalities and their beliefs that they're right competes against those who are more meek but better educated - and this goes on in life everywhere everyday, not just within beer judging. Understanding that, if you enter a beer appreciate that you're getting a well-rounded feedback (if not the best), and that certain styles will always have a bit of a wash to them.

 

Interestingly I judged specialty IPAs this past weekend also. There was one NEIPA entry and in my table of four we all were well aware of this being a murky style (it probably helped that one was wearing a Trillium t-shirt).

The first sentence under Aroma guidelines states "A prominent to intense hop aroma featuring one or more characteristics of American or New World hop varieties". I say you'll never achieve this without dry hopping and a kettle-hopped-only beer certainly wouldn't advance in any comp I've been associated with.

Interestingly (again) I did the medal round for pale ales this same weekend. The medal winners had a dominant hop aroma (citrus mostly), were close to being full-strength IPAs. The beers that advanced but didn't medal were superior in aroma to SNPA.

In the past I've served at the Best of Show judging where an IPA was awarded 2nd place overall. As server I was first to quaff this brew and it was swimming in hop flavor and aroma ... a very worthy winner.

My conclusion: some of you are hanging around the wrong IPA judges . . .

 

Another thought, being a "dinosaur" myself, you need to keep in mind that there were, and still are, English-style IPAs that are not that hoppy in aroma or flavor. They were forebears of the style and set the tone. Americans just amped it up!!!

 

Haha! That puts everything a little more in perspective - in 2000 I won a medal for English-style IPA at the World Beer Cup with a beer that was way over the top! And.... wait for it... it was dry-hopped!

 

I get excited about new hops about 50% as much as hopheads do, which is still quite a bit. I used a bumload of Calypso in my double IPA this weekend. Smells/tastes like PEARS. I also used Citra but not enough. For dry hopping I'll use a 3:2 blend.

 

My only gold medal came from a lower abv iPa that I entered as an APA. I may just have to do that again.

 

SNPA has always been an example of an APA. That is true for the 2004, 2008, 2015 guidelines.

SNPA is not dry hopped, so yes it has less aroma.

Had some fresh in Z CA recently, dang that is a nice beer.

 

I assume that he was talking about SNPA based on that entire post was about it.

Maybe the Z was supposed to be a S because they are close on the keyboard...
I assume he meant that he had some fresh SNPA in southern California and that it is a good beer.