Into the Haze
The next big thing in craft brews is crisp , refreshing and juicy By Jared Clinton
Winnipeg hopheads scrolling their
Instagram feeds or popping by a local brewery may have stumbled on an arresting sight recently : a glass filled with a vibrantly orange , opaque brew that seems almost matte in colour .
This is the look of the New England IPA , a beer variety some local brewers say is poised to become the next big thing on tap .
Often labeled a “ hazy ” or “ juicy ” IPA , the style was called a Northeast IPA when it came on the beer scene roughly a decade ago . Recently , it has become among the most popular varieties of craft beer in North America . Even about five years ago , when co-founder and head brewer of Kilter Brewing Co . Miguel Cloutier ’ s self-professed obsession with the brew began , he says an Instagram search of the “ NEIPA ” hashtag returned roughly 100 results . Today , the same search returns more than a half-million images . At the 2019 Great American Beer Festival , one of the largest in the world , the New England IPA category led the event with nearly 350 entrants . ( Two years earlier , it hadn ’ t even been among the field .)
“ It was very controversial with the clear beer purists in the beginning but took off in popularity like nothing before it ,” Cloutier , who helped produce one of Canada ’ s first commercial craft brews of the style , explains .“ Photos being posted on Instagram of the bright and juicy looking beers got big reactions .”
Producing that signature cloudiness and citrusy aroma boils down to the brewing process .
Traditionally , brewers used
hops to imbue beers with a trace amount of bitterness , but craft breweries have experimented with adding hops far earlier in the process , producing the signature bitter bite which has come to define IPAs the world over . New England IPAs set themselves apart by utilizing new variations of hops and yeast . “ A lot of [ New England IPAs ] are a combination of a hand-selected yeast and very fruit-forward hops and somewhat overdoing it during fermentation ,” says One Great City head brewer Scott Porter . “ That creates these very saturated , hoppy , fruity types of flavours .”
Those tasting notes create a new level of approachability , especially for those formerly opposed to the idea of tilting a pint . “ A lot of people , if you ask them if they ’ d like a beer , they have a certain idea in their head ,” Porter says . “ This is starting to change that perception of what beer can be . A lot of the time , this style is nice , soft and fruity . It ’ s meant to be almost an orange-juice type of approachability .”
Cloutier , who calls these pours a game-changer for the brewing industry , echoed the sentiment , noting that these far tamer derivatives emerged at a time many craft IPAs were pushing boundaries by becoming increasingly bitter . “ This new soft and juicy direction was a really nice departure . [...] It has also made many people realize ‘ hoppy ’ doesn ’ t have to mean bitter .” The popularity of these refreshing sips may foretell the next big thing in brewing . Cloutier says he ’ s got his eye on cocktailinspired brews and hybrid pours fermented with wine must . It might so happen that beer ’ s foray into fruity flavours has only just begun .
Photography : Courtesy One Great Brewing Co ., Kilter Brewing Co .
18 ciao ! / oct / nov / two thousand twenty