While West Coast IPA raged in the US in the late 90s and early millennium, with caramel notes, citrus, and pine character, and IBUs often in triple digits, experiments with late hop additions were simultaneously being conducted on the East Coast (New England).
In January 2004, the brewery The Alchemist launched what is considered the first New England IPA (NEIPA). This was "Heady Topper," which still holds legendary status within the style today and stands as the very prototype of New England IPA. Gradually, the concept slowly spread across the East Coast, leading to the rise of well-known breweries such as Hill Farmstead, Trillium, Treehouse, Other Half, Tired Hands, and many more. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single brewery that doesn't have at least one NEIPA in its log.
This beer style is a further development of the classic IPA, but it distinguishes itself with its bright yellow hazy color, velvety smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness, and not least, because it's a pure flavor explosion of tropical fruits and citrus. The prominent hop flavors are volatile and will break down relatively quickly. In other words, this type of beer is a perishable product that should be consumed relatively quickly. If you keep the beer cold after the fermentation process, it will last even longer.
Ingredients for NEIPA
Malt:
NEIPA can be brewed in many ways, but most common is a simple base malt (Pilsner or Pale), a large proportion of wheat, and often flaked oats and wheat. These components provide a sweet base with flavors reminiscent of white bread, crackers, and honey, and with the large proportion of wheat and oats, it often results in very hazy wort.
Some also prefer a more solid malt base, using, for example, Maris Otter or Golden Promise to give more flavor and complexity to the base, or a bit of specialty malt such as biscuit or carapils.
Hops:
Here, hop heads have free rein, and the choice is yours. Hops with strong tropical fruit flavor profiles are often used. Think American varieties like Citra, Mosaic, and Centennial, or more exotic varieties like Galaxy and Vic Secret. Although these hop types often have high alpha acid (bitterness), these should mainly be added at the very end of the boil (whirlpool/hopstand), and a good proportion in dry hopping. And preferably multiple dry hop additions at different times to bring out different flavors during the fermentation process (double dry hop, popularly abbreviated DDH).
Often, a portion of the hops is added after a few days of fermentation, while the yeast is most active. With this addition, the hop oils will react with the yeast, bringing out even more depth and flavor layers due to the phenomenon of biotransformation.
Yeast:
Although WLP001/US-05 and WLP013/S-04 are simple and safe choices for NEIPA, the demand for yeast strains suitable for this style has grown enormously. Today, we have a plethora of excellent yeast strains that not only enhance the hops to the extreme but also contribute their own fruity flavors to balance the whole. Yeasts specifically selected for NEIPA and other hazy beer styles will also remain in suspension, meaning the beer becomes even hazier.
Vermont Ale from The Yeast Bay is isolated from an (unknown) popular double IPA from the Northeast Coast, and is a sure bet here. Also look at WLP066, which is an exciting and popular alternative.
If we look at dry yeast types, there are also good choices here, such as Lalbrew New England, Lallemand's Verdant IPA and, of course, the classic S-04 from Fermentis. Here, it's simply a matter of experimenting.
Don't forget the water!
If there's one beer style that truly benefits from a correct water profile, it's NEIPA. Proper adjustment here can really make the hops shine and give a velvety smooth mouthfeel. Feel free to check out our article on water adjustment to delve deeper into this topic. How one proceeds here is both debated and, not least, based on personal preferences, but most prefer to prioritize calcium chloride. If you use Brewfather, there are a couple of good NEIPA water profiles that can be recommended as a starting point, and then you can experiment to your own taste.
Avoid oxidized NEIPA
Be aware that NEIPA can be a bit challenging to brew, mainly due to a high risk of oxidation. In that case, we go from a delicious, yellow tropical hop bomb to a browner color spectrum. The powerful flavors from the hops become very muted, and you get flavors reminiscent of wet cardboard. The best thing you can do to avoid this is to use corny kegs.
If you carbonate in bottles, the oxygen remaining in the bottle when you cap it will be enough to affect and force oxygen into the beer. You can certainly bottle NEIPA if it is to be consumed within a couple of weeks, but much longer than that can become problematic. Also avoid any splashing and stirring of the beer after fermentation, for example with a siphon, stirring in sugar syrup, or too much fall when transferring from fermentation vessel to keg. The best solution would be a closed transfer to a keg, and there are several ways to do this depending on the equipment you have.
NEIPA – your next brew?
When all is said and done, this is an absolutely fantastic beer style that exploded onto the market a few years ago and has since demanded its place. This is also a very good style if your freezer is full of hop remnants that need to be used up, considering the relatively large amounts of hops required for this. Or take advantage of our quantity discount (20%) on all our hop types when purchasing 5 or more, and use our freshest vacuum-packed and frozen hops.
In short, this is a style you can really play with if you love hop juice!
In our large assortment of all-grain beer kits and fresh wort kits, we naturally have many New England IPAs to choose from.
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