The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Hazy shades of summer
New England IPAs have been sweeping the country, so we take a few of the cloudy brews for a test drink
If you’re a fan of beer, you probably noticed a new style of brew on menus and store shelves starting back in 2018. New England IPA, often called “hazy” or “juicy” IPA, became a hot trend. It was recognized by the Brewers Association as an official separate beer style, and now it seems to be everywhere. Characterized by their cloudy appearance, hazy India pale ales tend to feature hops with more of a citrus profile and are less bitter than traditional IPAs. They are also smoother in texture and tend to be lighter in color. What makes an IPA hazy? It’s a combination of things. A brewer can use yeast types with proteins that stay suspended in liquid. Hazy IPAs also are unfiltered, so the normal residual material that’s usually removed after boiling a brew remains. Finally, the timing of the addition of hops to a boil affects the haze. Adding hops late or at the end of the process reduces the clarity of the beer. I’m a fan of traditional IPAs, but the emergence of the haze was a welcome counter to breweries obnoxiously trying to “out-hops” one another. I like hoppy, bitter beer, but there’s a line you can cross, for heaven’s sake. As I’m not doing much else during the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to taste-test some hazy IPAs. I tried versions from seven breweries, several of them local. Here are my findings, listed alphabetically by brewery. BREWDOG, HAZY JANE » At 7.2 percent alcohol by volume, this was the strongest of the collection of beers I sampled. The UK brewery’s entry on the list is a medium gold beer that poured with little-to-no head or significant lacing on the glass. It wasn’t heavily aromatic, but the detectable scent was distinctly fruity. It wasn’t as creamy in texture as some others on the list, and it had a pineappleleaning taste with a surprisingly hoppy finish. It wasn’t my favorite, but Hazy Jane is a pretty darn good beer. GREAT LAKES BREWING, HAZY IPA (6.7% ABV) » New this spring, the Ohio City brewery’s offering is my favorite hazy IPA. It pours a light orange, a bit darker than some of the others, with little head or lacing. It’s got a pine aroma, but the taste is more citrus-y than piney, and it has the most bitter, hoppy finish of the bunch. Maybe that bitter finish is why I like it most — it’s more like a traditional IPA than the others — but I also like that it’s balanced; there’s a good blend of flavors, all of them mellow. JACKIE O’S, WHO COOKS FOR YOU? (5% ABV) » The Athens brewery has the hazy IPA that’s least like the others on my list. Maybe because it’s double dry-hopped? Dryhopping (adding hops after boiling) must tone down the hops, because I didn’t find this beer hoppy at all. It’s a very pale yellow and pours with a substantial head and lacing. It’s got a tropical-fruit aroma with a hint of pine and grapefruit, but none of that hits you when drinking it, other than a slightly grapefruit finish. It’s lighter, less hoppy and somehow less juicy than others, all at the same time.
How did two Ohio City breweries manage to brew my two favorite New England style IPAs? Haze Jude is Platform’s year-round version, and I like it better than the two small-batch creations I’ve had. That’s feedback I’ve given my brother, who works there and said the small batches got rave reviews. (I’m not sure how he feels about my liking Great Lakes’ version better than any of them.) The Platform entrant poured with a huge head and some lacing but didn’t have a big aroma, just notes of citrus and pine. It’s more of a light orange than a dark yellow and a little more hops-forward than others I tried. The finish is distinctly citrus, but it’s another well-balanced brew, with no one flavor hitting you over the head. None of the beers I tried is as bitter as a traditional IPA, but it doesn’t surprise me that my two frontrunners were the most bitter and least juicy of the group. That’s just a personal preference. SIERRA NEVADA, HAZY LITTLE THING (6.7% ABV) » The only West Coast brewery on my list produced the haziest of the New England-style IPAs. It’s a medium gold with a healthy head and tracing, and light barely passes through it. Taste-wise, it’s fruitforward, with notes of orange and pineapple leading the way. It has a fairly hoppy finish with a subtle mix of malt and no real bitterness. Hazy Little Thing was also a little more carbonated than most of the others. SOUTHERN TIER, LAKESHORE FOG (6.5% ABV) » The Lakewood, New York, brewery put forth the juiciest of the juicy IPAs I tried. It had a piney, earthy aroma but much more of a citrus taste. I’m not a fan of heavy citrus, so your mileage may vary. Lakeshore Fog pours a dull gold, with a medium amount of head and a lot of lacing. Like all the beers I tried, it is very smooth. When you get past the citrus, there is a hoppy finish, but it’s not bitter at all. WILLOUGHBY BREWING CO., HAZY DAYS (4.9% ABV) » The closest-to-my-home brewery is the least-hazy of the brews. It’s light golden in color and both more carbonated and more translucent than the others on the list. It had a large, thick head and some lacing on the glass. It might have been the least aromatic as well, with a subtle, earthy funk that doesn’t translate to tasting. There’s no single bold flavor, but the finish is a nice blend of hops and citrus. I believe the Hazy Days name is borrowed from a previous brew at Willoughby, and this one might be a similar iteration with tweaks to the hopping.
Breaking it down
Given the choice, I’d take a good traditional IPA over a hazy IPA any day. But I know plenty of people who like more juice and less bitterness in their IPAs, and the hazy style would seem a great option for them. Also, the cloudiness and smooth mouthfeel are a little deceiving in that none of the hazy IPAs I tried was heavy. Overall, they’re light and crisp. They’re not like a shandy or a radler, but if fruit in beer is your thing, hazy IPAs could be a solid summer beer choice.