Article: NE-IPA’s Quest for “Juicy” Has Led Us Toward Increasingly Undrinkable Beer, and “Hop Burn” is the Culprit

Questions, answers, and comments related to brewing.

Moderator: Officers

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
ryanmetcalf
Officer
Officer
Posts: 704
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Olathe, Kansas
Contact:

Article: NE-IPA’s Quest for “Juicy” Has Led Us Toward Increasingly Undrinkable Beer, and “Hop Burn” is the Culprit

#1 Post by ryanmetcalf » Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:46 am

Ran into this article from Paste Magazine this morning, felt very fitting as I just tried a couple new Hazy IPAs yesterday, and one had so much hop matter left behind it was ridiculous, even if it was tasty
(Pictured: 2nd from left - "Lost in the Sauce" by Ascension)
Image

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/ ... -ipas.html
The most common problem in IPA today, summed up in a single sentence by someone who’s never written anything about beer in her life. She managed to perfectly capture how the quest for “juicy” profiles in IPAs has led the beer industry in a direction that is actively undermining its own aims, and the result has become a whole lot of bad beer. Worse still, these poorly made NE-IPAs have proliferated to such an extent that they’re confusing the consumer as to what a “juicy” IPA is meant to taste like in the first place. We’re weaning a new generation of beer drinkers on a style that is often fundamentally difficult to drink, and that is a problem.
All too often, NE-IPAs now lusting for that “juicy” profile are simply taking their hop rates too far, and as a result they’re losing the very thing they’re seeking. These beers are being hopped at such rates that the delicate impressions of fresh fruit are lost, and all that remains is the overwhelming flavor of plant matter. And mind you, this is a style where a touch of “grass clippings” as a flavor note can be considered a good thing. But when a hazy IPA tastes like a mouthful of wet leaves, then we’ve clearly overshot what was intended, and it’s time to stop pretending that this is a desirable result.
Mid/late 2000's brought us the IBU wars, now late 2010's we've got the race to dry hop more

Ace
Craft Brewer
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:50 pm
Location: Lawrence KS

Re: Article: NE-IPA’s Quest for “Juicy” Has Led Us Toward Increasingly Undrinkable Beer, and “Hop Burn” is the Culprit

#2 Post by Ace » Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:52 pm

The hopping in this style is different, the hops are added to the mash and never boiled, the final hops are added as the wort is chilled, also below boil temperature.

Post Reply