Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe, returns from the States with respect and awe for the popular hazy/juicy IPA style

Hazy/juicy IPA has come to dominate the global craft beer landscape becoming ubiquitous throughout beer drinking nations of the world.   At last month’s World Beer Cup, the most prestigious beer competition in the world, held in Philadelphia, PA, hazy IPA was the second largest category with 274 entries, just behind West Coast style IPA with 293.  Organised by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association for small and independent American craft brewers, the competition, now in its 30^th year, serves as a benchmark for quality and continues to attract the highest number of entries of any global beer competition with 8,166 this year from 50 different countries.

‘Hazies’ – How It All Began

Hazy/juicy IPA originated in New England, America back in the early 2010s with the emergence of a new style of beer that focused less on clarity and bitterness and more on a soft mouthfeel, unfiltered appearance and a tropical, fruit forward hop character.

Initially termed New England IPA, or ‘NEIPA’, in homage to the region of its birth, the approachable new style quickly became popular with other breweries eager to experiment with the soon to be ‘haze-craze’. The Alchemist brewery in Vermont was widely credited with creating the style back in 2011 with the launch of Heady Topper, a beer considered to be the original forefather of the style. 

The Brewers Association recognised the Juicy/Hazy IPA style as an official category in 2018 since when it has become the first (or second) most competitive category at both the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival.  

During the 2010s hazy IPAs exploded in popularity and it wasn’t long before breweries across the world were jumping on the haze bandwagon.  In the States, ‘hazies’ account for 10.5% by value and 8.9% by volume (off-premise scan data (NielsenIQ) of the off-premise craft beer market and 9.9% of the on-premise market (NIQCGA data/estimates).

Why Are Hazy IPAs Popular

Unlike classic IPAs with their signature piney bitterness and clarity of appearance, Hazy IPAs are all about the soft, velvety mouthfeel, unfiltered appearance and juicy, tropical fruit forward hop expression.  The subdued bitterness makes them accessible and approachable to first time drinkers as well as die-hard IPA fans.  Flagship examples like Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing was launched in 2018 and is now the best-selling juicy/hazy IPA in the USA and widely available around the world. According to Iain Newell, European marketing director at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, 65% of beer drinkers were not hazy beer fans or had never tried one, until they sampled Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing. 

Hazy IPAs are made with the four essential components of beer but the grain bill, hop selection and brewing techniques are all different, for example:

Malts – flaked oats and flaked wheat are used to create a smoothy, creamy texture and mouthfeel, and the hazy appearance is achieved. The high protein content of oats and wheat adds body and fullness to the beer without adding sweetness.

Hops – Hazy IPAs typically use hop varieties known for their juicy, tropical fruit character such as Citra, Mosaic, Azacca, Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin.  Brewers avoid isomerisation of bittering hops which creates the classic bitter aftertaste, but instead focus on late hopping and dry hopping after fermentation to achieve the subdued bitterness and vibrant, fruity, tropical hop character of the style. This technique preserves volatile aroma compounds that would boil off if added at an early stage.

American craft brewers have a unique advantage over other brewing nations due to their close proximity to some of the world’s premier hop growing regions, allowing them to hand-select the freshest, highest quality, most sought-after hops available.  Many brewers visit the hop fields themselves multiple times a year and work directly with the growers.   They not only visually inspect the harvest but crush open the hops in their hands to examine the resins and oils as well as inhale the all-important aroma that defines world-class Hazy IPA. Such attention to detail helps produce award-winning American craft beers.

Yeast – brewers favour strains that produce fruity esters during fermentation and enhance hop biotransformation.  They need yeast to stay suspended in the beer for longer thus contributing to a hazy appearance and fullness of body.

The Future of Hazy IPA

What started as a regional experiment has exploded into a global phenomenon with almost every brewing nation in the world producing the style. The fact that American craft brewers pioneered the style is testimony to their inventive, innovative and daring approach.

But will it last?  Toppling Goliath Brewing Co, from Decorah, IO, produces award winning hazy IPAs and is regularly available throughout Sweden’s government monopoly.  Its brewmaster Mike Saboe, has the final say:  ”While we may have a reached “a” peak in the haze craze, I don’t think it’s the only peak we’ll see in this category as time goes on. IPA as a broad category has captured people’s attention since its beginning and now a well-crafted hazy has expanded and diversified that interest. What began as a way of layering more hop flavour into a beer using different techniques and newer varieties of high-oil content hops resonates with beer drinkers because of its authentic aesthetic and polished, but unfiltered flavour. With the continued development of new hop varietals and almost infinite permutations of flavour available, the beautiful glow and vibrant aromas of a fresh hazy is something that I believe will always be a part of the beer drinker’s rotation.”

U.S. Craft Beer in Sweden

Sweden is an important export market for American craft beer, accounting for 5.4% of all exports and ranks as the largest market in the EU.

A varied range of high quality American craft beer is available through Systembolaget, as well as select bars, pubs and dining venues.

Free downloadable resources about American craft beer are available at www.brewersassociation.org or www.craftbeer.com

All images © Brewers Association