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In Praise of… a Beer Style

Or,

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love NEIPA

Several years ago, while working at your friendly neighborhood home brew store, I handed two long-time customers beer samples while we stood by a stocked yeast fridge on a chilly winters day. Both men cozily fell into the demographic of the older middle aged sort and long resided in the Chicago home brewing universe, earning some renowned for their longevity and varied activities. Outside, the generous leavings of the latest snowstorm were slowly turning a darker hue from salt and watery road grime.

After a bit of conventional greetings, the conversation shifted toward the new beer style wowing the millennial set. Both men were a bit flummoxed by the sudden and rather rampant popularity of something called New England IPA. To say both bore skepticism and mild disdain for this wildly cloudy and robustly bodied, slightly sweet thing bearing the appellation of IPA would be belittling to the idea of understatement. If I recall correctly, one of them muttered bemusedly, “All the time I’ve been brewing, I’ve been trying to make my beers clear. And now… no one cares.”

Now, I must admit, I too really didn’t understand the style back then. I too sought to create resolutely clear beers, especially of the golden hued type. Being able to read text through a pint filled with Kolsch or Pilsner or Blonde or… offered gratification and pride to this avid brewer. For years, I resisted the Hayzee IPA’s allure with its pillowy texture, thick cloudiness of a Venutian sort and, in the best versions of the style, the zip and zing necessary to offset the sweetness created by the oft-generous additions of calcium chloride.

Yet, I too found my former incredulity being subsumed by the soft mouthfeel and juicy punch of a style still, in many ways, being thoroughly explored and defined by breweries from Maine to San Diego. For two years, a co-worker, with an unbridled fear of missing out and a lack of children to siphon away excess cash, has bought 4-pack after 4-pack and generously shared 3-ounce pours of these hazy IPA’s with myself and other co-workers.

Versions packed with the often-mandatory combination of Mosaic and Citra hops vied for our affections. Editions jammed with Galaxy or Vic Secret or Simcoe or combinations of all three seemingly crowbarred into this mouth cloud version of IPA sought our adoration. Even NEIPA’s faceted with more esoteric hops such as Comet or Calypso or Cashmere filled our sample glasses with a hue and flavor mimicking some sort of epically attained breakfast fruit juice.

Lately, I have visited with a friend on a monthly basis to taste such flavorful wonders. Prior to our meeting, texts fly back and forth between us, typically starting with a meeting time, followed by such statements as, “Get over here. I’m chilling the Hayzees.” Or a photo of two or three different 4-packs of Hayzee’s to be tasted for the evening with the caption, “Coming attractions!” At a beer festival, I served my own version and texted playfully, “My Hayzee was off the… well, chain!In other words, people drank it and toasted me with it. To be banal about it.”

In all, the style has barreled its way into my taste buds in such a favorable manner. But, a set of questions loll about my mind in quite a stimulating manner? They spring forth from the most obvious thought of, “Is this style a permanent fixture in beer world? Or will this version thrown into the catchall of IPA become a source of ridicule on an MTV type, We Love the 20-Teens styled show in the 2020’s. With wacky background noises adding to an already madcap soundtrack and irony steeped C and D list comedians asking, “Do you remember hazy IPA’s? What WAS that? Cloudy beers? Hazy IPA’s were the equivalent of Zima in the 90’s.” Another slightly discarded celebrity from a sitcom in the 20-teens with his hair topping his head in a bun will bellow, “What the frak was Zima?” And yet an even more tired performer wearing a Pink Athleisure track suit and tiny sun glasses will just tilt her head and look over those tiny rims with an exaggerated sense of confusion at the idea of a hazy IPA.

Yet, let’s say the NEIPA enters the styles of sustainable popularity such as the Pilsner or Dry Irish Stout or even the now slightly relegated American Pale Ale, once the most consumed craft beer in the overall range of styles or even a classic Kolsch with the characteristic lemony-sulfur edge in the overall flavor profile.

What happens once the next new beer style is birthed from some inventive nook of the micro-brewery world and runs vivid and unrestrained about the minds and taste buds of beer lovers? Does the NEIPA over time merely slink into a slim niche, merely allocated a tiny space on store shelves like Porter or Northern English Brown ale or does it capture a permanent place as a flagship style or is it simply worthy of every brewery concocting a vibrant version ripe with citrusy and tropical fruit flavors. Or does the style merely fall into an occasional but breezily produced seasonal for summer to be savored along with some zesty, fruit derived dessert?

Only the ever-surging flow of time will expose the contours of future beer taste preferences. Right now, the zeitgeist esteems the Hayzees and beer drinkers taste buds may not exactly be fickle, but new trends often subsume old ones. So, enjoy these fruit flavored beers sans any kind of fruit and relish each new variant offered on an almost weekly basis. The styles current dominance will probably and inevitably fade from prominence to be replaced in the brightest lights of Instagram trending cycles by some other favored and uber-chic style of the moment.

Once the inevitable popularity slippage occurs and some indeterminate passage of time transpires, the judgment of history and future beer writers will mine the historical record and a more permanent assessment might be offered with even it being later reappraised. Until such time arises, we shall be allowed these mere passages of speculation and… Oh wait, my Hayzee is warming. Cheers!