The idea of driving from Madrid to Tbilisi—a 3,000-plus mile journey that passes through 10 or 11 countries—seems daft. It’s really far. Such a trek would take you across Europe, through a portion of the Middle East, and to within spitting distance of Russia. You would encounter myriad languages, a number of religious traditions, and different cuisines, cultures, and fashions. It would never occur to you that the beer would be the same along that route.
Yet roughly the same distance separates Portland, Oregon, and Portland, Maine. You might imagine that along that vast distance, you’d find differences in the way people make their beer. That was the initial idea behind this article—to document those differences in the ways that brewers in different regions make their hazy IPAs.
Yet, when I set out to investigate this question, speaking with brewers and writers across the country, they kept describing the same kinds of beers. As a control, I polled my readers on social media and my blog about their preferences. I was astounded to find that not only did drinkers from different regions prefer pretty much the same things, but they also agreed with the brewers, too.