India Pale Ales (IPAs) are hoppy beers that fall within the broader category of pale ale. IPAs break down into three main styles: American, English and Double or Imperial. If you’re a fan of brands like Sam Adams, Harpoon or Goose Island, chances are you’re an IPA lover.

A Hazy IPA is a New England Style IPA (NEIPA) that is a juicy, balanced mix of citrus and hops, and finishes with a fruity finish. It’s characterized by, you guessed it, its hazy look. Oddly enough, this key characteristic, which created a trend in the craft beer industry, was actually an accident by makers who were trying to create an aromatic, juicy and soft beer.

You may be wondering why it’s so hazy. The short answer is science. The long answer is the combination of polyphenol and protein molecules become visible as hydrogen bonding occurs during brewing.

There’s also a less sciency answer that yeast is suspended in the beer rather than filtering it out, causing extra cloudiness. Either way, we can all mutually agree that NEIPAs are murky.

They’re both members of the American IPA family, but otherwise are pretty different. New England Hazy IPAs are juicy beers. They’re cloudy, fragrant, smooth and accused of being more of an orange juice than anything else. Many argue that hazy IPAs have no place being as cloudy as they are as well. ABV of New England hazy IPAs is usually between 6.3% - 7.5%. West coast IPAs are more complex beers, and are super hoppy. This helps them have big, bitter flavors, like grapefruit, citrus or peppery pine. West coast IPAs usually have an ABV of roughly 7%.

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