“We find ourselves introducing those who don’t like strong and bitter IPAs to a different corner of the style: soft and elegant ones,” says Matt Katase of Brew Gentlemen in Braddock, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. He’s sharing what many New England–style IPA brewers experience in their tasting rooms. These softer, more delicate IPAs are surprising beer drinkers who dislike the bitterness, dankness, and boldness often associated with the IPA style.
The idea of a fruit-forward, juicy IPA with subtle haze and low bitterness isn’t exactly new to the beer market (think The Alchemist Heady Topper and Trillium Brewing Company Sleeper Street IPA), but the term “New England–Style IPA” is novel—and so hot right now.
Brew Gentlemen Founders Katase and his business partner Asa Foster, along with their Head Brewer Zach Gordon, were early adopters and brewers of this softer, juicier IPA.