If you haven’t had a Hazy IPA / Pale Ale you need to stop what you are doing immediately and go to the nearest brewery or liquor store and pick some up. Drink one, or two, or seven… and then come back to this blog post. These beers are fucking delicious! Fruity, aromatic, hoppy and so smooth. They are a very different experience compared to what you are used to in the IPA world. They do carry the same bitter hop flavour that every associates with IPA’s but the citrus and fruity notes cover up the tongue burning bitterness and the result is absolutely glorious! As you can tell, I’m somewhat into these beers right now!
Its super interesting to see how quickly trends change in the craft beer world. 4 years ago it was the over powering hoppy double IPA’s that every brewery was producing and that consumers loved, but for me I was never into how the bitterness covered up the flavour profile. 2 years ago it was sours that bursted onto the scene. Again for me, I stuck to my go to’s… Pale Ale’s, wheat beers and dark beers like porters and stouts. But since these murky, vibrant hazy’s have become trendy in the past 6-12 months I just can’t get enough of them! They have the citrus and fruit forward notes that make them great Summer beers, but they typically are a little higher in alcohol content (6-7%) making them great Fall/Winter beers when you are looking for something a little strong. I could totally name some of my fav’s but that list is super long and I find myself looking for something I haven’t tried every time I hit up a liquor store or brewery. It seems as though these beer trends change every 18-24 months but I am totally ok with this one lasting a little longer so local breweries keep pumping these bad boys out!