The wave of New England IPAs has arrived

Reads 2190 • Replies 20 • Started Saturday, May 6, 2017 10:49:28 AM CT

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Message BVery beers 13631 º places 750 º 11:15 Sun 5/7/2017 Numba One a miss? Ooff, man, gotta disagree with that. Had it yesterday at Grizzly’s and loved it. As good as Stupid Good and Reaper? No, but those set a pretty high bar.
Message Stine beers 1810 º places 259 º 11:20 Sun 5/7/2017 Originally posted by TheHOFF43 Oh yeah, Disgruntled is killing it. I go to grizzlys in Plymouth all the time and only order those pretty much. Their newest APA was hazy but boring. A rare miss for them. I know nothing about brewing beer but when you’re focused 100% on a certain aspect (in this case hops) of a beer then the quality has to be important. Sisyphus doesn’t check many boxes for me in general and I haven’t had that particular beer. Yes I agree with you - should have said Sisyphus was *aiming to check all the boxes with that one. Obviously hop quality is crucial but I’m wondering if variations in quality and/or in stability of flavor are more likely noticeable here than in more aggressive and maltier versions.
Message TheHOFF43 P beers 2045 º places 169 º 16:56 Sun 5/7/2017 Originally posted by BVery Numba One a miss? Ooff, man, gotta disagree with that. Had it yesterday at Grizzly’s and loved it. As good as Stupid Good and Reaper? No, but those set a pretty high bar. It wasn’t bad but it was boring. I wouldn’t order it over a lot of other beers.

Message nuplastikk P beers 9901 º places 73 º 23:17 Sun 5/7/2017 Originally posted by islay I’ve made my feelings on New England IPAs clear in other threads and many of my reviews (summary: I’m con). I actually think the substyle has its place, but that place is next to beginner craft beers like ambers, brown ales, and wheat ales (which are inoffensive and accessible like New England IPAs) rather than at the top of beer rankings boards, and I’m worried about the possibility of New England IPAs to some degree crowding superior expressions of the IPA style out of the market place. I want my IPAs more bitter and substantive in the palate, and New England IPAs are taking the IPA style far in the wrong direction for my tastes. Todd the Axe Man is a West Coast IPA in both intent and effect. I wouldn’t call it "juicy" or "tropical" at all, thankfully. Please don’t tar arguably the best IPA ever brewed in the Upper Midwest with the "New England IPA" brush. Citra and Mosaic indeed are common in New England IPAs, but they were widely adopted among brewers of West Coast IPAs first. I don’t want to see every tasty, Citra or Mosaic-hopped West Coast IPA being rebadged a New England IPA because the latter is the flavor of the month. Of course, New England IPAs, originally called "Vermont IPAs" and now veering toward "Northeast IPAs" in the vernacular, trace their roots to slightly shifted takes on the West Coast substyle brewed by northern New England breweries, but the New England substyle has mutated into something notably different ("turbid," "juicy," "pillowy") as it has invaded southern New England and New York. The actual New England breweries mentioned in this thread are by most accounts excellent breweries even ignoring any IPAs they’ve made. It shouldn’t come as a shock that a beer brewed by HeadFlyer isn’t as good as a beer brewed by Hill Farmstead. Sisyphus, my second highest rated brewery in the state, has made my two favorite New England IPAs, Cloudy with a Chance of Yeastballs and The First Beer We Distributed (a.k.a., Citranox), but 1) neither of these beers was particularly cloudy in appearance or soft in palate, so many would dismiss them as not really New England IPAs at all, and 2) literally every Sisyphus IPA has been good to great. I.e., good breweries tend to brew good beers, even in lesser styles and substyles. Modist Dream Yard (which I keep trying and failing to get merged with the Deviation #002 entry), is quite good, but it’s a 100% wheat beer (Edit: Perhaps they added oats when they changed the name, but there’s no barley), and it drinks to me like an IPA / saison hybrid, in which the lack of bitterness and soft mouthfeel read more natural and not as if something is missing. Otherwise, my local New England IPA ratings tend to go "the further in the New England direction, the worse," so they’re probably not helpful to fans of the substyle. Added: Re: Wicked Wort: Motueka Keller Pils is superb, however you care to classify the style. I was surprised too because Wicked Wort otherwise has been quite unimpressive. You haven’t really taken into consideration that a lot of NE IPAs are brewed with their own unique yeast strains, which add some mild citrus tones as well.
Message Steasy66 beers 1156 º places 10 º 11:25 Wed 5/10/2017 Originally posted by jackl Trillium @ ~$5 a 16oz can brutally dunks on anything that BlackStack has put out at a 60% premium. Let me know where I can snag a can of Trillium for a fiver on my way home from the gym.
Message jackl beers 8677 º places 740 º 12:04 Wed 5/10/2017 Originally posted by Steasy66 Let me know where I can snag a can of Trillium for a fiver on my way home from the gym. Not sure I follow your post, Steasy. Are you implying that BlackStack’s prices are justified since they have minimal competition or making the point that comparing their beer to out of market players isn’t fair? On the first point, I don’t really disagree (charge what rubes are willing to pay, I say). On the second point, I’ll push back. BlackStack have cited Trillium as inspiration for their own recipes in social media posts. I’m simply obliging in making the comparison they’ve invited. At $8 for a ~16oz pour, I don’t think I’m judging them too harshly. Few would disagree that they’re charging a lot for a product which has room for improvement. Ultimately, like a lot of you guys, I’m not particularly price sensitive when it comes to my beer purchases (however, I’m very impressed by breweries that pump out tasty product at attractive prices). If BlackStack is selling $8 pints like hot cakes, good for them. tl;dr: a bunch of stupid nonsense about a style and brewery that I don’t care much about.
Message Steasy66 beers 1156 º places 10 º 15:00 Wed 5/10/2017 My point is the direct comparison of quality per dollar of an available beer vs an unavailable beer is beyond reductive. You are claiming Blackstack is charging a 60% premium over a brewery with a 1400 mile distribution gap. I bought a pile of Lou Pepe Kriek in Brussels in 2015 for 9 Euro a bottle, should I factor that in to my assessment local sours? Edit: That said, Blackstack’s prices are ridiculous.

Message JK beers 7296 º places 442 º 15:27 Wed 5/10/2017 Originally posted by Steasy66 Blackstack’s prices are ridiculous. This. Also unfortunate is their tap room which is one of the least appealing in town. I really enjoyed their ipa but i will not be back any time soon.
Message islay beers 3622 º places 18 º 15:30 Wed 5/10/2017 50 cents an ounce at taprooms is not at all an unusual price for expensive-to-produce beers (think imperial and barrel-aged beers). It’s just that most taprooms choose to serve such beers in 10 or 12 ounce pours for 5 or 6 bucks, and most IPAs (unlike New England IPAs) aren’t outstandingly expensive to produce. All that flour dumped in to produce the haze doesn’t come cheap! (Kidding... kidding... kinda). BlackStack originally only did $5 10 oz. pours, if I recall correctly, of Local 755, but, they claim, customers kept demanding full pints.
Message Steasy66 beers 1156 º places 10 º 15:35 Wed 5/10/2017 Both times I’ve been there I’ve had the option of a pint or a 12oz, both at 50 cents an oz. Back on topic, for me the best local NEIPA brewers in order are: Disgruntled Forager Modist (though I’ve seen a lot of batch to batch variation in dream yard) Black Stack Unimpressed by Insight’s attempt. Still need to try Wicked Wort.