Why are VT Double IPAs so good?

I've had Heady. Great beer, but seriously overhyped and I can get better stuff locally. Also, I'm not sure if you were being facetious or not.

 

I would like to appreciate your defense of our region, but lets keep the bale breaker, barley browns, breakside stuff within the region. If people want to think HT, HF, and Lawsons are the be all, end all - then let them.

 

In my limited experience, I think that VT brewers like HF, Alchemist and Lawsons (among others) set out to do something different from the beginning, and in doing so they set the bar high for other VT brewers. They didn't set out to copy the West Coast style IPA, went for lower IBUs and more hop flavor. The use of malts and yeast in VT IPAs is much different than the West Coast IPA, and contribute more to the balance of flavors. I think the water sources in VT are also generally softer and more well suited to juicy aromatic hops and certain malt profiles, but it's hard to say how much this varies from brewery to brewery. HF is obviously proud of their well water for good reason.
Another big factor is that many of those VT brewers, especially Alchemist and Fiddlehead, decided to work hard to perfect an IPA that they could have fresh and available often, and they really only focused on putting great beer in the hands of locals before anyone else. Matty O (owner of Fiddlehead) told our brewing class that his top priority in building his brewery and brand was to start with an IPA that he could consistently make great batches and get them on tap fresh to local places, then he built from there. That kind of dedication just makes good beer all around.
Last but not least, Foley Brothers deserves a mention in this convo for their Fair Maiden DIPA, and more than that they were awesome people all around.

 

I think you guys are touching on, at least for me, a key point -- that it's really a stylistic issue. Juice bombs are the rage right now, and VT/NE puts out a lot of juice bombs. For my money, and this could totally be due to being from out West, the juice bomb stuff just doesn't always work as well (for me) as the crisp, bracing bitterness of the more traditional West Coast-style IPAs. They totally can work, of course -- I thought Trillium's Fort Point Pale Ale was a friggin' revelation, just pure mango puree goodness. Conversely, I thought Congress St. was basically alcoholic, hop-essenced orange juice. Totally tasty in its own way, sure, but ultimately a bit one-dimensional (not to mention astringent). Similarly, Heady is juicy but has solid bitterness, which helps to make it work so well; Sip of Sunshine felt like weak, watery tropical fruit juice to me (which no doubt smelled very nice). This is all YMMV, of course. But I can't help but admit that lately I've been bristling at the sense that any old juice bomb is suddenly an elite IPA.

Re: homerism, regionalism, etc., I hope it's not verboten to note that there are some beloved breweries on this site that don't score nearly as high on "the other site". (And this is true across many regions, not just the NE, to be fair.) To me, it's just one more reason that the ratings here are a fine starting point, and fun topic of conversation, but ultimately limited in what they can really tell us.

 

and ice cream, right?

Its a small place with at least half the year cold, lots of people on the internet while its snowing, hyping liquid in their living room. They're just working over time.

 

Thank You Kindly!
I really dig these Neo IPA batches the North East provide. The choice of Malts and Hops that seem to be perfectly blended and not just Bitter Bombs anymore. There's an IPA from a KY brewer that captures the Raw flavor of Centennial Hops with just a bare basic Malt Body. What impressed me more was that the aroma/flavor was just Hops, yet without that Alpha Acid bite to kill your tastebuds.
So I'm thankful for the science of Late Hopping Schedules in the brewing process. So if the N.East keeps nailing hoppy beers without the huge hop bitterness, I'll keep buying!

Cheers!

 

Because Yezzus

 

Bodhi and Gandhi, two DIPAs that are fap material to this hop head!

 

I didn't compare it to the big three at all. I literally only said that Limbo is "pretty damn tasty." I was just trying to show that even amongst the-hype generating VT breweries, the DIPA's are still solid.

 

Love and well water.

 

Lots and lots of practice

 

I like beer.

 

So wait ... you're deciding FOR me whether or not I like hoppy beer? Really?

 

Great brewers too, perhaps the competition nets us a gain, hard to explain how 4-5 small breweries spit out great IPA's across the board. You may not like the terminology they use on their beers, but Jack Abby makes great beers as well. Could be the CA beers here just aren't fresh enough to be consistently fair where the NE brews I can get fresh, but I have had Alpine at 10 days old and they are fantastic beers, and Pliny at 15 days old, but they are not in te same laege as the beers I named above.

I've only had a few beers, but Matt Cohen is killing it at Fiddlehead as well, great beers that are just now getting their due, easily hangs in there with anyone.

 

No better than many others from elsewhere.

 

First off...i didnt say 10 WA/OR beers that are better than Heady or Double Sunshine...I have never had Double Sunshine so I cannot speak to it. I really enjoyed SOS and would guess I would really enjoy Double...

My comment said I would put 5 WA/OR DIPAs up against SOS (meaning they are as good/comparable) and 10 were better than Heady...

5 DIPAs on par with SOS:
- Hop Venom
- Tank Slapper
- The Brother
- Astral Projection
- Notorious

10 that are better than Heady:
the five above +
- Hop Henge
- Voltron
- The Sister
- Blue Dot
- Humulo Nimbus

That is just my opinion which i am sure you will think is "LOL"able but I have had all of those beers and that is what i thought...there are lots of DIPAs from WA/OR i havent had that are probably better than some of the ones I mentioned too...the thing that is actually funny here is I have had all of the beers i am talking about...you probably havent had any of the ones i listed above...

 

Just my opinion of course so you might not like them as much as I do but here are my top ten DIPAs from WA and OR:
1) Tank Slapper - Barley Browns (OR)
2) Notorious - Boneyard (OR)
3) Hop Venom - Boneyard (OR)
4) Astral Projection - Holy Mountain (WA)
5) The Brother - Fremont (WA)
6) Voltron - E 9 (W) / De Garde (OR)
7) Hop Henge - Deschutes (OR)
8) Blue Dot - HOTD (OR)
9) The Sister - Fremont (WA)
10) Humulo Nimbus - Sound (WA)

 

Considering water is 95% + of what beer is, I totally agree. Having brilliant brewmasters find the right balance of hops, malt and consistent yeast is a definite plus. Most striaght forward answer on the thread man, cheers

 

I pretty much had the same exact experience...i did like Sip of Sunshine though and the Fiddlehead beers I had...and I only bought 1 case of Heady