HOPIQ FACEOFF
63%
Overall similarity
hopIQ take
Spur if you want bright, citrus-forward juice that feels almost effervescent,
The Substance Ale if you want a denser, more textured pour with stone fruit depth.
Both nail the New England IPA formula at virtually identical specs—6.5 vs 6.6% ABV, same IBU floor—but they're built on different hop philosophies. Polly's leans tropical and snappy; Bissell Brothers grounds theirs in something more substantial and lingering.
At a glance
Generated from the four anchored axes — never hand-written.
Beer DNA
Body
Δ 2
Sweetness
Δ 25
Situations
In words
Spur
Spur hits like biting into a fresh grapefruit—there's an immediate, almost aggressive citrus burst that doesn't apologize. The body is lean and clean, which lets those hop aromatics breathe without any heavy grain underneath. It finishes dry and quick, which works perfectly if you're chasing that New England brightness rather than complexity. Feels like a beer designed to be refreshing first, memorable second.
The Substance Ale
The Substance Ale has a softer, rounder entry that settles into peach and apricot notes before the citrus shows up. There's actual weight here—not heavy, but present—which gives the hops something to lean against. The finish is stickier, lingers a beat longer, and feels more integrated overall. This one rewards sipping rather than session-drinking.
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Beers like Spur
View alternatives →Beers like The Substance Ale
View alternatives →Both are
Similarly carbonated
Within Δ 0. Neither reads as noticeably livelier on this axis.
Texture 53 vs 53 · Δ 0
Bitterness
Δ 0
Texture
Δ 0
Only Spur
Shared character
Only The Substance Ale