New England IPA (also known as Hazy IPA) is a new and on-trend style of the IPA family (a family of beers mainly known as very hoppy and mostly bitter). NEIPA beers exhibit many sensory aspects that vary from conventional IPAs. The best way to describe it may be that it’s a “juicy beer.” Even though it can range from 5-7% ABV, drinking a NEIPA beer is almost like drinking a rich, fresh fruit juice, as the hops and yeast contribute to producing those fruity flavors.
NEIPA beer general characteristics
New England IPA is a new and on-trend style of the IPA family (a family of beers mainly known as very hoppy and mostly bitter). NEIPA beers exhibit many sensory aspects that vary from conventional IPAs. The best way to describe it may be that it’s a “juicy beer.” Even though it can range from 5-7% ABV, drinking a NEIPA beer is almost like drinking a rich, fresh fruit juice, as the hops and yeast contribute to producing those fruity flavors.
Haziness is also an important character of this beer style, a consequence of its particular ingredient composition. This type of beer is usually pale in color and presents a mild, neutral malt character, allowing its fruity-hop flavors to dominate, with a distinctly fresh intensity.
With a NEIPA, you can expect hop flavors in the tropical fruit family, like mango, pineapple, passion fruit, and guava, as well as citrus fruit flavors, like orange, lime and tangerine. You might even detect some stone fruit character, like peach and apricot. And it’s all about the hop aromas, which are not necessarily bitter. As opposed to other IPA styles, NEIPA tends to have moderate-to-low bitter intensity, with a smooth finish. Lastly, the body of the beer plays an important role, which it needs to do in order to be supportive of the juicy sensation. As a result, you get a very aromatic, flavorful, and highly drinkable beer.
NEIPA brewing tips
Typically, you should use malted barley, as well as oats and wheat, because they all contribute to the creamy character, the body and the haziness of the beer. Our second recommendation is to consider a rather important charge of hops (0.5 – 1.5 kg/hl) only in late hop additions (late hopping and dry hopping with no or limited kettle hop addition during boiling). We suggest to primarily use fruity hop varieties (citra, simcoe, mosaic, galaxy, amarillo, el dorado, etc.). And of course, always use the right yeast strain!
Yeast impact on NEIPA style beers
The impact of yeast on hop flavor expression is a new and exciting topic! We have studied in depth the impact of different yeast strains on NEIPA flavor expression. Yeast can affect it in different ways, not only on neutral flavors: how yeast affects the production of and contribution to fruity flavors – and multiple other interactions – can be significant. In fact, yeast will not only play a direct role in flavor formation, it can improve the release of some important hop flavors from precursors. To summarize, yeast can favor the hop character of beer by producing, releasing or interacting with important hop aroma compounds. Yeast also has an important role in the body of the beer; its suspension or sugar consumption profile can contribute to the mouthfeel of the beer, especially in this style with its “juicy” character.
Yeast suggestions for brewing the perfect New England IPA
For the brewing of a typical NEIPA, we recommend the use of the following yeasts:
This German ale brewer’s yeast, for delicate and hopped beers, produces subtle fermentation character. Depending on the conditions SafAle™ K-97 tends to present floral and balanced fruity character. This yeast is ideal for NEIPA style beers. It’s suitable for heavily hopped beers and has ability to form a large firm head when fermenting.
Ideal for English & American ales with balanced fruity notes, SafAle™ S-04 produces balanced fruity and floral notes. Due to its flocculation power, this yeast tends to produce beers with higher clarity. Ideal for a large range of American and English Ales – including highly hopped beers – such as NEIPA beers.
Fruity driven strain, SafAle™ S-33 gives a high mouthfeel and body to the beer. Ideal for Belgian Ales (Blond, Dubbel, Tripel, Quadrupel Styles) and strong English ales (ex. Imperial Stouts). It is also ideal for New England IPAs. SafAle™ S-33 is a yeast with a medium sedimentation: forms no clumps but a powdery haze when resuspended in the beer.
Factsheet
New England IPA aka NEIPA
Origins: USA
Color: pale, fruit juice, hazy
Bitterness: medium to high
Alcohol: medium
Mains flavors: fruity & hoppy