New England IPAs are beers that are purposely brewed cloudy or hazy by using a high proportion of unmalted grains like flaked wheat, flaked oats and flaked barley. They use tropical new world hops rather than your classic citrus and pine forward hops that west coast IPAs use. They have very low bitterness and utilise different hopping methods which help give the beer a tropical juciness. The yeast that is used is often ester producing so this helps with the fruit forward profile. Generally, the types of yeast used derive from English Ale strains.
History of the NEIPA (New England IPA)
John Kimmich and his wife Jen opened the Alchemist pub and brewery in Waterbury, Vermont, USA in 2003. In January 2004 John brewed the first batch of Heady Topper a big 8% hazy Double IPA which is regarded as the very first NEIPA. As Vermont is a state in the New England region the style has become known as the New England IPA (NEIPA). The Alchemist started canning Heady Topper in 2011 and it took off. People drove for miles to Queue for the chance to buy a case of this new juicy fruit forward beer. Soon other breweries in Vermont and New England were also brewing hazy hop forward IPAs. To this day Heady Topper still has a score of 100 on rate beer and comes in at number 5 on the most rated beers on beer Advocate.