Anyone else fed up with NEIPA?

[Didge]

Surely it's the same with every "latest trend", just like pop music, some will be excellent but the majority will be Sh*te: just like my homebrew.

Unlike pop music though, after a few of my good homebrews even the sh*te stuff tastes good :-)

 

[kelper]

I agree with the OP. If over-hopped, gassy beers were that good we would have been drinking them for decades. IPAs have all the hoppiness I ever need.

 

[dad_of_jon]

People rave about Jaipur. “It’s the recipe for the original Punk IPA” people reckon. I’ve had it twice and both times I found it unbalanced and bland.

agreed, the recipe must have changed just like punk ipa

 

[Gerryjo]

I suppose west coast IPAs had a similar phase in which some breweries entered a ****-waving contest by increasing IBUs and trying to make the most aggressively-hopped beer. Overall though, west coast is a really important style - revolutionary as it prompted the 'craft' boom - and the best examples are up there with the best beers in the world. And it obviously tastes like beer, whereas NEIPA doesn't...

There won't be (m)any lasting examples of the hazy/NEIPA style in the future, I don't think - especially since there aren't many 'named' beers that are repeated, like a Torpedo or a Jaipur. Each line has a different name/can art/variation in hops to present the illusion of uniqueness, which feeds into and off social media culture, in my opinion - partciularly Instagram, which perpetuates a 'look at what Ihave in my life that you will never have' image and mentality.

As for next fad, certain things that came along after/alongside the haze seem to have died off a bit - imperial and 'pastry' stouts (yuck*), kettle sours, adjunct/milkshake IPAs (yuck)... NEIPA seems to be staying a while.

*I once tried Ominipollo's Yellow Belly after hearing a lot of hype, and it was disgusting - possibly the worst beer I've ever had.

Have tried the torpedo and it is tasty but could not care less for quite a few as they are over priced and over rated...

 

[Gerryjo]

@darlacat did, just a few posts ago.

I think it was more the line of imperial pastry stouts he was referring to.

 

[Linalmeemow]

I think it was more the line of imperial pastry stouts he was referring to.

Yeah, he's clarified that now. Never heard the term "pastry stout" before though! Then again, I've never seen good reason to add anything to a stout so I wouldn't go looking for anything by that definition.

 

[obscure]

Yeah, he's clarified that now. Never heard the term "pastry stout" before though! Then again, I've never seen good reason to add anything to a stout so I wouldn't go looking for anything by that definition.

A classic milk stout with just a hint of sweetness from the lactose can be really good in my view, also stouts flavoured with coffee or, cocoa I find can be rather good, or of course plum Porter.

But a lot of them seem to take it too far and you end up with a sugary sickly mess.

 

[Linalmeemow]

A classic milk stout with just a hint of sweetness from the lactose can be really good in my view, also stouts flavoured with coffee or, cocoa I find can be rather good, or of course plum Porter.

But a lot of them seem to take it too far and you end up with a sugary sickly mess.

Ha, you've reminded me of the only exception I'll make - lactose for a milk stout! But when people start adding coconut, marshmallow, vanilla, coffee or any nonsense like that I'm not interested.

 

[AlDaviz]

My local supermarkets (Sainsbury’s and Tesco) have about 4 NEIPAs each. APAs, WC IPAs and the like (Clwb Tropicana, Gamma Ray etc in Sainsbury’s) still dominate the shelves.

I think tesco nearest to me has the broadest range. I’ve tried a few that I wouldn’t try again, the odd one is good but I like variety.
I made a brewdog Hazy og clone using the recipe as a guide from there book diy dog. Using citra,simcoe,Amarillo & mosaic. Wow, but the longer it was left maybe a little hop burn, more bitterness. But it was good

 

[robster62]

Ha, you've reminded me of the only exception I'll make - lactose for a milk stout! But when people start adding coconut, marshmallow, vanilla, coffee or any nonsense like that I'm not interested.

My oatmeal stout is my best beer to date.

 

[Kerby]

I enjoy having a NEIPA very occasionally but I generally find the prevalence of US style IPAs pretty boring, a lot of examples are pretty poor, thin, unbalanced and sometimes soapy. I enjoy a beer with food too and find the big hoppy styles just don’t work well with a lot of meals - spag bol with a tropical IPA no thanks!

while I’m having a moan I agree with the whole blueberry pancake imperial stout etc etc thing. I just think that adding all these adjuncts is largely unnecessary, you can get great coffee / chocolate notes from grains without having to add actual coffee and cocoa to the brew, likewise IPAs with actual fruit purées in them, just lazy brewing IMO. Anyone else agree?

 

[Linalmeemow]

My oatmeal stout is my best beer to date.

I don't really consider oatmeal a flavouring adjunct, it's more mouthfeel for me and is just another grain in the mash so again by my arbitrary rules it's OK!

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

I'm not sure I've had one. Probably as a grumpy reaction to what appears
to be an American fad. I'm close to a Sainsbury's and a Tesco (unfortunately no specialist bottle shops nearby) and I have to say Sainsbury's has a very uninteresting selection of beer and Tesco the widest selection, but it's row upon row of IPA, , DIPA and DDIPA. So much so that lately (contrarian that I am), I've been ging the pastry stouts a go as there are so few and I have to say some have been awful, but there have also been some very good ones.

Somewhere I have found has a surprisingly good selection of styles of beer on the high street is Marks & Spencer. If any of you order your shopping on line, take a look at Morrisons. A few years ago I was looking to order beer for a party and wanted a wide range and wheread Sainsbury's and Tesco seemed only to offer what was stocked at the local store, Morrisons would get you anything stocked in any of their stores. Unfortunately, I think they had the lowest liquid to other goods ratio, so I didn't bother in the end.

 

[Kerby]

Agreed, and incidentally the oatmeal extra stout is I brewed last years is one of my fav brews, interested to swap recipe.

I don't really consider oatmeal a flavouring adjunct, it's more mouthfeel for me and is just another grain in the mash so again by my arbitrary rules it's OK!

 

[ChilledGecko]

I'm still 'riding the NEIPA wave' at the moment.
I've yet to make one so all my experience is from commercial offerings.
As with all things, there are highs and lows across the range. But my general experience is positive.

My elder son is well into his craft beer and drinking across the range opens up opportunities for beer based dialogue (usually inebriated WhatsApp messages complete with photos and reviews) - Happy days

Our local Lidl are having a 'Craft Beer Week' from tomorrow so I'll be visiting and having a Supermarket Sweep moment.
I'm not a great liker of stouts (bad experience with warm Guinness in my formative years) so I plan to stock up with some to hopefully expand my palate.

 

[darlacat]

The difference is a lot of the mediocre session IPAs are in the £1.25-£1.50 a bottle range at this price mediocre beer is not great but acceptable (a bit like Banks Bitter), but a mediocre, beer at £5+ a can is just unacceptable.



.

Yes, the quality to price ratio is an issue with this style, and so unpredictable due to inconsistency/constant line of 'new' NEIPAs from each brewery, collaborations, etc. Although the price is pushed up by the sheer amount of hops that go into these beers.

 

[darlacat]

That's probably because the sour beer trend unfortunately suffers the same as the NEIPA trend. Most commonly found sour beers are mediocre Berliners that really don't demonstrate how great sours can be.

A lot of the sours from UK craft breweries are kettle sours, especially the ones you might find in supermarkets. A world away from true sours - hopefully they aren't putting people off exploring Belgian lambic!

 

[darlacat]

I really enjoy NEIPAs but had a good portion of last year where I was sick of them. Very much fell back in love with malty beer styles during this time.

The market saturation is pretty crazy. Tesco alone has about 20 different Hazy IPAs on their shelf at the this time. There are some great examples out there, but you can't help but feel that creativity and variety is being stifled.
I actually feel bad for the breweries in a way. In order to be successful in the "craft" space, they've got to have a few Hazy IPAs in their roster, and change them regularly to keep up interest and "hype", and ultimately shelf space. It's no wonder that there are as many misses as hits out there. It wasn't that long ago that breweries has their flagship/core beers that they'd really worked out. Now they are expected to crank out new stuff every other week.

For me it demonstrates a wider problem with how some people treat the likes of Untappd. Rather than it being used as a personal beer journal, it's become a bit of a pissing contest where the "juiciest" or highest ABV beers have disproportionately positive ratings. It's all skewed towards hype and obtaining the "next beer".

Must be an utter nightmare for breweries that want to have a unique identity and style.

Not just the supermarkets, but bottle shops and 'craft' bars are saturated with them also - especially with regards to the offering from UK breweries. Untappd is a big problem, I think, as it pushes demand for the 'juciest', murkiest, booziest, and the impression of the unique and obtainable, hence single runs, can art, etc., rather than breweries refining a smaller line of regular beers. Have seen bottle shops advertising particular beers as '4.3 on Untappd', or whatever. It is tough for new breweries, as you have to engage with this to get your product out there, even if the brewer is unkeen on the style.

A lot of the material on Untappd also suggests that many consumers might wax lyrical, but know sod all about beer. I highly recommend looking at an Instagram account called untappdwtf, which picks out the best/worst of the content on Untappd...

 

[darlacat]

I enjoy having a NEIPA very occasionally but I generally find the prevalence of US style IPAs pretty boring, a lot of examples are pretty poor, thin, unbalanced and sometimes soapy. I enjoy a beer with food too and find the big hoppy styles just don’t work well with a lot of meals - spag bol with a tropical IPA no thanks!

while I’m having a moan I agree with the whole blueberry pancake imperial stout etc etc thing. I just think that adding all these adjuncts is largely unnecessary, you can get great coffee / chocolate notes from grains without having to add actual coffee and cocoa to the brew, likewise IPAs with actual fruit purées in them, just lazy brewing IMO. Anyone else agree?

Yes, I think there's a real art to drawing out complex flavours from the raw ingredients of beer - an art that is overlooked in the quest/demand for the juciest, biggest, use of adjuncts, and so on.

To my taste, it also feels quite childish, both in style and aesthetic - could you imagine wine, or any other drink, being developed and packaged in this way? Also seems to tap into something in the male psyche - to me the demand/obsession amongst some is a bit like indie rock fandom.

 

[obscure]

Yes, I think there's a real art to drawing out complex flavours from the raw ingredients of beer - an art that is overlooked in the quest/demand for the juciest, biggest, use of adjuncts, and so on.

To my taste, it also feels quite childish, both in style and aesthetic - could you imagine wine, or any other drink, being developed and packaged in this way? Also seems to tap into something in the male psyche - to me the demand/obsession amongst some is a bit like indie rock fandom.

I will admit I have sometimes bought a beer because I like the can.

However I do largely agree with you, when you get a really good cask bitter or mild from a brewery that just brews a handful of beers it can be perfect. For example I am a really fan of Wye Valley Butty Bach or West Berkshire Breweries Maggs Mild.

Hoppy IPAs and the like can be nice but the flavour so often seems to be entirely driven by the hops with the malt and yeast being almost entirely incidental.