BeerBorg

I actually had an IPA like that a couple of months ago. Didn't realize it was a style thing. I thought something got messed up but I tasted it and it was good so I drank the rest. Now I need to go see if I can find where I wrote down what it was.

Yeah I do not get it and I am from that area...It does not need to be cloudy to have good hop flavor or aroma... so I do not get it...it is a gimmick

I stumbled upon this if nobody saw it yet.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/20 ... e.html?m=0

Why does it have to be a "style"?

To call it a style puts it on a level playing field with a Pilsner or a Belgian. Im all for expressing creativity in brewing. Why can't it just be a beer or three? Gimmicks and/or fads do not equal styles, do they?

I'll play devils advocate, although I know what you mean.

<devils advocate mode>

So... well, Cascadian Dark IPAs and their ilk, as a thing, got hijacked and turned into a new "style" sort of?

And the various Belgian "styles" are buckets made up by people who don't actually brew them. The people who brew traditional Belgians could give a crap about those made up styles which is why you can find all sorts of them that don't really fit in those buckets.

So what is a style besides the urge for humans to classify things so they can compare, contrast, judge, and/or hate on things for being non-conformist?

</devils advocate mode>

Just my opinion....

Styles tend to create themselves. You happen to look back and say" "hey, we did something here". Today, people are looking forward and trying to create a style.

Again, just my opinion.

Stinkfist wrote:Yeah I do not get it and I am from that area...It does not need to be cloudy to have good hop flavor or aroma... so I do not get it...it is a gimmick

And I'll play Devil's Advocate on this one: It can be argued that earlier beers were cloudy and murky because that was just the way they turned out. It wasn't until later/recently that we started specifically started to clarify beer and at that time *it* was probably looked at as a fad or gimmick. Now, it's more the standard.

I think it all started with Heady Topper. The "style" uses that beer as a foundation. Low-floc yeast, a shit-ton of hops, flaked grains for creamy mouthfeel, all late-hopping so very little bitterness relative to flavor/aroma. And since it's in high demand and tends to be consumed young, there's a lot of particulate still in suspension when most people drink it.
As a result of HT's success, a lot of other regional brewers have come up with their own take on the style. Hence a trend (or fad, if you prefer) was born.
Check out the video embedded at this link. The Alchemist's founder explains the "drink it from the can" motto, and pours a fresh Heady Topper and a 9 month-old one. The comparison is interesting. The fresh one has that "White Labs vial" look to it, while the aged one does not -- but then, we he stirs and pours out the bottom of the aged can, you can see the crazy amount of hop matter, protein, yeast, etc that had settled to the bottom. When you drink 'em young, all that sludge is in suspension.
http://beerpulse.com/2013/04/why-to-dri ... red-video/

Interesting take on the trend here, too:
http://beergraphs.com/bg/919-new-englan ... -deliciou/

Crazy Climber wrote:all late-hopping

This much of what they are doing is all I do anymore for hoppy beers, unless I'm using low AA hops. But I also always do a hopstand with them all still in there, and end up with plenty of effective bittering. But it's not harsh bitter. But bitter enough to keep it balanced easily. I just like how they end up much better this way to my tastes. Pretty sure Gymrat does this all the time too.

Heady Topper is hazy, but not murky or milky. I've had other hazy IPAs, but I'm not looking to recreate that appearance.

Yes, Heady Topper is what I'd call 'hazy' as opposed to 'murky' - but I think the regional trend (or whatever you want to call it) stems from other breweries looking at a successful beer, focusing on what is different about it, and then trying to "turn it up to 11" in their own recipes. Their thinking being along the lines of "HT is not clear and it's considered world-class? OK, let's make ours look like a glass of pineapple juice!"
And from there, the bar keeps getting raised, and it takes on a life of its own...

Next up: Beer you eat with a spoon like soup!