WEEK 238--IPA Gone Fruit Juice Like---Yes or No

 

For craft beer drinkers who started some 10 years or more before NEIPA/Hazy IPA came along & changed the landscape of traditional IPA scene with it's juicy/fruity/at times fruit punch like hops bomb-there were this curiosity as to whether newbies who started say some 5-6-7 years ago would know that IPA wasn't like this before.

有个不是笑话的情况是，近五六年才开始接触craft beer的新朋友有可能并不知道印度淡啤（IPA) 原本是以啤酒花苦味为风味主轴，相反的以为IPA指的就是近年风行，充满热带水果鲜香酒体厚实浑浊口感甘甜浓郁（甚至是甜腻）的类果汁印度淡啤（Hazy IPA或NE(New England) IPA)就是全貌，对不少人来说知名美国酿坊如Trillium，Tree House，Other Half， Monkish或英国酿坊Cloud Water就是IPA代名词。

同样是印度淡啤，然而传统印度淡啤(Traditional IPA 或只就是IPA)和类果汁印度淡啤的风味表现可说是截然不同的层次，最简单说法是传统印度淡啤以啤酒花苦味（比如柑橘，松树，青草等）为主导，而类果汁印度淡啤则是以充沛特出的热带水果和柑橘风味带出啤酒花鲜香甜苦为主轴。

In short--old school/traditional IPA is the "bitter" half of the scene with focus on getting more piney/grassy/earthy/citrusy flavours out of the beer--NEIPA/Hazy IPA while still focus on all of those flavours--the biggest difference is they tend to be much more juicy/ fruit juics like-- at times even leaning towards the sweet side rather than hops bitterness.

Though there at times some confusion by newbies pertaining to how thick/juicy/cloudy/milk shake like certain NEIPA/Hazy IPA would look--not to be confused with PASTRY SOUR which may at times look very much similar--there is no fruits added in an IPA( unless the brewer stated so)--all those hazy/cloudy appearance were the "magic" work of hops/malts(grains such as oats/wheat) as well yeast depending on what varieties used by the brewers.

实际上单只观察酒体颜色等外观元素就能清楚看出两者之间区别，传统印度淡啤无论颜色或酒体厚薄度都更接近一般认知中的啤酒颜色，无论比较薄身或厚实都是看得透的深浅金黄色。而类果汁印度淡啤外观则是很多时候看起来比较像现打果汁或水果奶昔，无论酒体或颜色都显得更加浓郁混沌，可以说一定程度上颠覆了对啤酒外观的一般印象。

虽然两者之间无论酒体颜色厚薄程度以至风味口感表现都大相径庭，不过有一点是一致的，那就是传统印度淡啤和类果汁印度淡啤都是通过使用不同啤酒花特质风味以及有区别的酿造手法方式创造出差异，所以觉得类果汁印度淡啤是不是加入水果所以才那么充满果汁感的看法只是错觉。

The rise of NEIPA/Hazy IPA was sweeping some years ago--to say that it has somehow became the main stream IPA choice for many is not far from truth though those who started with traditional IPA might beg to differ.

Here in Asia-- going back to the 2010--what was mostly available in the market then were IPA from names like Ballast Point, Bells, Dechuttes, Dogfishhead, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, Stone...While the iconic Heady Topper & Pliny The Elder were and still are the accepted bench-mark IPA--due to inavailability via official distribution channel here in Asia--those 2 were onlu accesible via geeks own source of import/beer mail so naturally not widely available.

对比较早期就开始喝IPA的啤迷来说，类果汁印度淡啤的崛起是个让一些人觉得有惊喜，但另一些人觉得让原版变得面目全非的颠覆性改造所以不喜欢的冒现。远的不说，从2010年代开始来说，能在亚洲不同城市找到的知名美国印度淡啤酿坊包括Ballast Point，Bell's，Dogfish Head，Lagunitas，Sierra Nevada，Stone 等等。 当然说到美式IPA就不能不提起公认的经典酿坊Russian River的Pilny the Elder（以及限量版Younger)，还有The Alchemist酿坊的Heady Topper和Focal Banger，不过由于在亚洲基本无法在正式进口市场找到这两家作品所以并不普及。

有趣的是，不少美国酿酒师意见认为类果汁印度淡啤起源自早期的Heady Topper，虽然无论酒体颜色或厚度浑浊度都不是现今不少类果汁印度淡啤作品的模样，但在当时被认为是风味表现非常有别于传统印度淡啤，是更能表现啤酒花柑橘和热带水果鲜香甘苦风味的作品，实际上至今也被公认为认识印度淡啤顶级作品风味表现必喝典范作品之一。

To a certain extent--the emergence of NEIPA/Hazy IPA has opened up another path for newbies to sample IPA with relative ease as comapred to starting with bitterness forward traditional ones--the fruity/juicy/even sweet at times flavours is an easier entry point so to speak for newbies who are trying IPA for the first time. While some who still think NEIPA/Hazy IPA is NOT IPA and reluctant to drink or despise emmm---I guess there is no right or wrong--on the contrary that's the interesting part of craft beer and why we love it --varieties of choices--one will surely find one or more beer styles to his.her liking.

类果汁印度淡啤的出现非常大程度上改变了IPA是苦味啤酒风格代表的既有印象，酿酒师使用特定酵母或不同谷物如小麦或燕麦以让酒体浑浊浓郁，并通过比如二次投放啤酒花（Dry Hopping）大幅度提升热带水果鲜香带甜和柑橘风味表现的方式让传统印度淡啤那种有时候让新朋友误以为在喝苦茶的感受变成像是喝甜味带甘苦啤酒花果汁那样易喝，可说是让喝不了苦味为主轴啤酒的新朋友们打开了另一道可以尝试接受IPA啤酒花风味的通道，不过对喜欢传统印度淡啤纯粹苦味风味啤迷们来说，类果汁变奏只会是不受待见的旁支，而这也是craft beer有趣之处，众多不同类型风味啤酒任选，没有对错只有爱不爱。