What the hell is up w/Edward??

Had a couple Edward this weekend (on tap at ProPig and taster at brewery). Agree with the talk about the bitterness being a little bit more harsh than in the past. More of a hop forward pale than the usual soft HF profile.

 

had this same issue with excursions #1. didn't taste at all like a HF beer. no hop aroma and minimal flavor.

not sure what was up, have had every hf pale/ipa/iipa and never once has one look,tasted or smelled like that one.

gonna ask next time I'm up there. I'm honestly surprised they were pouring it given how it tasted.

 

I was at HF Thursday and left with growlers of Excursions. Tasted great to me.

 

I love that because Jason says turbidity is bad, it's bad

 

Can't imagine he pays any attention to them. Shaun seems like someone who only listens to one critic -- himself.

 

Sorry. I forgot about this thread. I should have taken a photo, but my 750 looked similar to the picture you posed earlier in the thread. I did not find it to be overly bitter but it was a bit different than even the Edward's I've had recently. Not bad, but a little different. So you might be onto something. I also had Excursions 1 very recently and that tasted great to me. Very little haze but it didn't matter in the least. Just for fun a quick google image search of HF beers show a wildly contrasting array of appearances amongst the same beers.

No one said it was bad. It is concidered a flaw though. But for better or worse that perception is changing. I enjoy it but there are also beers that are more clear or have a slight haze that are just as good. Turbidity is not an indicator of a good IPA which is where the current line of thought seems to be heading. Either way drink what you like. It doesn't make opposing tastes or opinions invalid. I had only brought it up because it was relevant to the thread in subject and specific beer.

 

All of this is somewhat inaccurate. To say that an IPA isn't supposed to be cloudy implies that it is supposed to be clear, which is false. Both clear and cloudy are acceptable traits of an IPA.

Taken directly from the Brewer's Association description of IPA: "Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures and hop haze is allowable at any temperature"

Or maybe you're a home brewer and you prefer the BJCP: Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy.

Having said all that... It's funny that we are talking about IPA's since Edward is categorized as a Pale Ale.

 

A slight haze and being turbid aren't one and the same.

 

I often prefer IPAs that are hazy vs crystal clear. But if the haze becomes enough to significantly affect how the beer feels (like drinking a yeast starter), then in my mind that is "turbid" and could be seen as a fault. Although I'd think this is more often caused by when/how beer was served (e.g., bottom of a barrel dregs)

 

HF Abner, S&S 5 , Treehouse Julius, Haze, as well as Trillium DDH Sleeper St are some of the most beautiful beers i've drank. Cloudy burnt orange beautiful.

 

I don't know if this is something everyone has seen or not, but reading through this thread I was reminded of this Stone blog post http://blog.stonebrewing.com/index.php/chill-haze-the-more-you-know/

 

That's a great post, thanks! I'm a little concerned that all the terrific "hazy" IPAs I've been drinking lately (Trillium, Tree House, pre-this-thread-HF) are messing with my subjective ability to enjoy a non-hazy beer. We joke about Trillium brewing with orange juice, but I'm increasingly disappointed when I pour a clear IPA since I think it "can't" taste like those.

Must forcibly re-educate myself by drinking more delicious well-chill-filtered beers!

 

Think, or it really can't due to techniques or hopping rates used? That's the question I'm really interested in.

 

One interesting point in the Stone post linked above was that these colloids in the solution could affect carbonation (and thus, presumably, mouthfeel). My experience has been that these cloudier beers tend to drink "softer", but again it's hard to be certain without some double-blind testing.

Maybe @JCTeatrault could do a crystal-clear batch of Congress Street in the name of Science!

 

Drank a King Julius back to back with a regular Julius last night and the King was noticeably less opaque. It still had haze, but not as much. Anyway, it tasted every bit as spectacular as Julius.

 

A clear IPA can certainly be great, but I don't believe any of these beers would be the same if they were clear. At least FPPA and Congress Street have wheat in the recipe, so they'd have to be filtered pretty finely. And then there is the dry hopping posing it's own challenges to clarity. They look exactly like they're supposed to look. If they wanted to make a Necco Street super-clear IPA (made w Necco wafers) it would be great but no one would confuse it for one of the hazy IPAs

 

Lagunitas and Firestone IPAs are very clear and still very hoppy.