NEIPA 2021 Series: Recap & Where Next?
In every month of 2021, we brewed our much-loved NEIPA as part of a series, making tiny adjustments to the base beer each time. We were on a journey of experimenting with different hop combinations and techniques to showcase this beloved style.
A New England IPA is a North East American IPA that is known for its intense, tropical fruit centric, hop aroma and flavour. Dry hopped, hazy and full-bodied. The distinctive traits of a NEIPA are smooth flavours and less perceived bitterness than a traditional West Coast IPA.
Brewing a NEIPA comes from using a combination of brewing techniques including the use of varied strains of yeast, hops and dialled in water treatment. We wanted to create a range of beers that expressed how different a beer could be just by changing the hop combinations and brewing techniques we use.
With a NEIPA, we could dial in our process and learn the very best way to push the boundaries to get a sweet, smooth body and full hop expression.
With our customised brew kit and know how, we now have a process to achieve a certain pH at each stage of the process to get the best out of four ingredients and showcase the style. Even the temperatures, the chemistry of water and specific days we dry hop has made a big difference to the outcome. We have gained so much knowledge on individual hops and how to express them at different stages of the process. Galaxy is a hop that should not be overused or it becomes bitter and less tropical. Some hops work better in the whirlpool than others. Idaho 7 has become a new favourite hop for whirlpool editions
Each month we showcase our beautiful city of Brighton by partnering up with local photographers to create iconic, monochrome labels for this series. From Brighton’s famous Pride celebration, Ships on Brighton Beach to Graffiti. Roger Bamber, who we collaborated with on the series said it best when describing what makes Brighton special:
“This is not an ordinary place. It has the Magic of the Sea. The Southern Light. The Free Thinking Creative, Free Spirited people who bring Weird and Wonderful things to the town that make it into a City that has its own individual character unlike anywhere else.”
So, what is next for the series? We are excited to be focusing 2022’s exploration of styles around the variants of IPA and putting a special UnBarred twist on them.
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