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These are our favorite hazy IPAs for hazy summer days

Summertime is a great season for hazy IPA beers

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A glass of beer on a beach
George Cox / Unsplash

It might feel like they’ve always been around, but New England-style IPAs have only been a style since 2004. This is when John Kimmich, brewer and founder of the now iconic The Alchemist in Vermont, first brewed the wildly popular Heady Topper. In the last 20 years, this IPA style has exploded.

There are more than 9,000 breweries currently operating in the U.S., and there’s a good chance (besides the breweries that specialize in specific beer styles) that most of them make a New England-style IPA or two.

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The reason this beer style has become so popular is because it’s the ying to the West Coast IPA yang. That is to say that the classic West Coast IPA is loaded with citrus and is known for an aggressively bitter, piney finish. The New England-style IPA is known for its hazy, cloudy appearance and juicy fruity body with a hoppy finish with little to no bitterness. It has all the fruit and hop aroma and flavor without the sticky bitterness. Keep reading to find out what the best hazy IPA beers are.

The best hazy IPAs

Hazy IPA
Josh Olalde / Unsplash

The style is known for its juicy, fruity, hoppy flavor profile. This makes it a perfect beer for the hazy, humid summer days. But summer doesn’t last forever. The time is right to stock up on New England-style IPAs. Lucky for you, we found some of the best that are available (mostly) everywhere. Keep scrolling to see all of the juicy, hazy, tropical fruit-filled choices.

Sloop Juice Bomb

Sloop Juice Bomb
Sloop

With a name like Juice Bomb, you should have a decent idea of what this beer is all about. This 6.5% ABV “Northeastern IPA” is unfiltered, hazy, and memorable. This dry-hopped, crushable beer is known for its mix of ripe tropical fruits and dank pine with little to no bitterness. It’s a well-balanced and effortlessly juicy brew, and it deserves a permanent spot in your summer refrigerator.

The Alchemist Heady Topper

The Alchemist Heady Topper
The Alchemist

No hazy IPA list is complete without the OG. The Alchemist Heady Topper is the beer that started an IPA revolution. This 8% ABV imperial IPA is hazy, juicy, and extremely well-balanced. Sipping it reveals a complex palate of honeydew melon, pineapple, mango, guava, and citrus peels. The finish is lightly prickly with dank pine.

Offshoot Relax

Offshoot Relax
Offshoot

This 6.8% ABV hazy IPA gets its hop aroma and flavor from the liberal use of Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra, and Centennial hops. It’s hazy and unfiltered and known for its flavor profile of candied orange peels, tangerine, caramelized pineapple, mango, and a hoppy, yet not bitter piney finish. This is the kind of hazy IPA you’ll want to bring to the beach or lake.

Rogue Batsquatch

Rogue Batsquatch
Rogue

We don’t know what a Batsquatch is, but we can assume it’s some kind of mythical creature. There’s nothing mysterious about this beer, though. This popular hazy IPA is brewed with 2-row base malt, flaked wheat, malted wheat, and oats. It gets its juicy, tropical fruit, citrus, and lightly dank flavor profile from the use of El Dorado, Mosaic, and Belma hops.

Ommegang Neon Lights

Ommegang Neon Lights
Ommegang

Cooperstown, New York’s Brewery Ommegang is well known for its Belgian-style beer prowess. But the brewery also makes a complex, flavorful hazy IPA called Neon Lights. This 4.3% ABV session IPA is brewed with London ale yeast, 2-row base malt, and flaked oats. This juicy fruit beer gets its hop aroma and flavor from the use of Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, and Topaz hops.

Toppling Goliath King Sue

Toppling Goliath King Sue
Toppling Goliath

This ferociously juicy, hazy IPA is adorned with a roaring T-Rex. Brewed exclusively with Citra hops, this 7.8% ABV brew is known for its mix of caramelized pineapple, guava, passionfruit, mango, tangerine, and sticky, resinous pine. It’s a juice bomb that finishes with enough hop bitterness to appeal to classic IPA drinkers and New England-style IPA fans alike.

Bottom line

Hazy IPA
Josh Olalde / Unsplash

Even if you’re a West Coast IPA drinker, you can understand the appeal of a hazy IPA. When made well, they’re juicy, hazy, and complex but still hold onto some of the light, piney bitterness traditional IPA drinkers enjoy.

And while the West Coast IPA is a great choice for the summer months. We believe the crushable, juicy fruit flavor of the New England-style IPA is even better. Trust us. Stock up on a few of the above (or pick your own) hazy IPAs. Crack one open on the next over-the-top sunny, humid, hot day. Sip it slowly and enjoy the unfiltered, juicy, hoppy complexity. If you don’t believe that a hazy IPA is a perfect summer beer, we don’t know what to tell you.

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Christopher Osburn
Christopher Osburn
Writer
Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He's been writing professional
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