There are a lot of hazy IPAs on the market. And that number is increasing rapidly, thanks to so many craft beer lovers (and brewers) falling in love with the style over the past half-decade. While the classic IPA taste is highlighted by over-the-top (sometimes aggressive) bitter hops, hazy IPAs — also called hazies or New England IPAs — are known for their juicy tropical fruit flavor notes, with little to no bitterness. And while we’ll still throw down a West Coast IPA any day, the New England-style IPA just might be the best IPA for warm weather drinking.
Since warm weather is officially here, we figured the time was right to find the best hazy IPAs that are available almost anywhere and blindly taste and rank them. These juicy, fruity, refreshing options can be found at almost any bodega, supermarket, and beer store from coast to coast. Keep scrolling to see which beers we picked and how they stacked up.
- Two Roads Two Juicy IPA
- Lagunitas Hazy Wonder
- Rogue Batsquatch
- Elysian Contact Haze
- Brooklyn Pulp Art
- Firestone Walker Mind Haze
- Dogfish Head Hazy-O!
- Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy
- New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze
- Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, I found hints of ripe grapefruit, caramelized pineapple, and tangerine. That’s about it on the nose though. The body is creamy and cloudy with more citrus as well as pineapple and other tropical fruits.
It’s juicy and memorable, but a little too creamy and sweet for my liking.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Earthy grass, slightly herbal, as well as tropical fruit, caramel malt, and citrus aromas can be found on the nose. On the palate, I found flavors like passionfruit, mango, grapefruit, and lemon zest as well as slightly caramel malts and a slightly tart finish with a more-bitter-than-I’d -personally-prefer dank finish.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
The nose is caramel malts, slight herbal notes, and citrus, and not much else. While the nose is reminiscent of a hazy IPA, the palate really isn’t. While it has the cloudiness of a New England-style IPA, it’s heavy sweet malts, citrus, and resinous pine.
It’s more bitter than I’d prefer and is missing the tropical fruit flavors I enjoy.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
The nose has a nice mix of caramel malt sweetness, lightly floral hops, and a ton of tropical fruit flavors like papaya, mango, pineapple, passionfruit, and citrus zest. The palate continues this trend with more bright, sweet tropical fruit flavors, ripe grapefruit, and a nice finish of floral, herbal, slightly bitter hops.
From my notes: “All in all, an almost perfect hazy IPA.”
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Hazy IPA fans who only enjoy tropical fruit flavors will be pretty happy with this beer’s nose. It features aromas of pineapple, tangerine, passionfruit, mango, and even melon. Caramel malts are firmly in the background. Sipping it reveals notes of candied orange peels, ripe mango, pineapple, apricot, wet grass, and a slightly spicy, floral hop bitterness at the very end.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is dominated by tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, and passion fruit as well as lemon zest, and just a hint of caramel malts. The mouthfeel is creamy and juicy with a ton of tropical fruit flavors like pineapple, tangerines, lemon curd, mango, and papaya. There’s also a nice malt backbone and an herbal, slightly bitter finish that’s necessary to temper the sweetness.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of freshly squeezed orange juice, pineapple, grapefruit, caramel malts, and floral hops are present on the nose. On the palate, I found hints of sweet malts, tangerine juice, lime zest, pineapple, grapefruit, and piney, dank, slightly bitter hops at the very end.
It’s a nice mix of sweetness, tart flavor, and bitterness.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
The nose is orange rings, pineapple, and really nothing else. It tastes manufactured and synthetic. The flavor is a little better but still tastes mass-produced. There are hints of tangerine, more pineapple, some grapefruit, and maybe some mango. The finish isn’t very bitter, but overall, it’s a bit bland.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Wet grass, ripe melons, grapefruit, and some pineapple are found on the nose. The palate follows suit with a more grassy, earthy flavor paired with some tangerine, pineapple, and a lot of resinous, dank, hop presence. More than I’d expect in a hazy IPA.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
While this beer begins with aromas of ripe pineapple, berries, peaches, and orange zest, there’s also an herbal, floral hops presence on the nose. The palate is filled with caramel malts, mango, guava, tangerines, grapefruit, wet grass, and a nice earthy, herbal, slightly bitter, dank finish that helps to temper the tropical fruit flavors well.
Part 2: The Ranking
10) Brooklyn Pulp Art (Taste 3)
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Brooklyn is a big name in the craft beer marketplace so it was only a matter of time before it launched a hazy IPA. Pulp Art is its hazy, cloudy, juicy, tropical fruit-flavor foray into the world of New England-style IPAs.
Bottom Line:
Brooklyn Pulp Art is a different kind of hazy IPA. It’s not the juice bomb you’re used to. If anything, it’s a good bridge between the West Coast and New England-style for drinkers who aren’t ready for an overly fruity beer.
9) Dogfish Head Hazy-O! (Taste 1)
ABV: 7.1%
Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This dry-hopped hazy IPA is juicy, cloudy, and loaded with tropical fruit flavors. But it gets its sweet, unique flavor profile from the addition of four different oats. This includes malted oats, roll oats, naked oats, and even oat milk.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, I found hints of ripe grapefruit, caramelized pineapple, and tangerine. That’s about it on the nose though. The body is creamy and cloudy with more citrus as well as pineapple and other tropical fruits. It’s juicy and memorable, but a little too creamy and sweet for my liking.
Bottom Line:
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a beer that features so many oats would have a creamy flavor profile. It ticks all the hazy IPA boxes, but it’s the sweet oats and creamy mouthfeel could be a little much for some IPA fans.
8) Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy (Taste 8)
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $10.99 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Samuel Adams is most well-known for its iconic Boston Lager, but it also makes a pretty good New England-style IPA. Wicked Hazy is brewed with Samuel Adams IPA yeast as well as Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, white wheat, and golden naked oats. It gets its hop flavor from the addition of Galaxy, Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra, and Cascade hops.
Bottom Line:
I expected more from Samuel Adams. While not a terrible beer, it’s just not very exciting at all and the flavors are fairly one-dimensional and unexciting.
7) Lagunitas Hazy Wonder (Taste 9)
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Lagunitas is well-known for its bold, hoppy IPAs so it’s no wonder the California-based brewery tried its hand at crafting a hazy IPA. Loaded with Cashmere, Comet, Citra, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, Sabro, and Mosaic hops, it’s known for its combination of sweet tropical fruit flavors and bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
Lagunitas Hazy Wonder definitely is a wonder. I wonder why they added so many hops and made it so dank. It’s a good beer for fans of slightly bitter hops added to tropical fruit flavors, but maybe not for classic hazy IPA drinkers.
6) New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze (Taste 2)
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
While I enjoy their beers, I wish there was a way to shorten the Voodoo Ranger beers’ names. They’re a real mouthful. The Juicy Haze version of the brand’s popular IPA off-shoot is brewed with American hefeweizen yeast, pale and C-80 malts as well as wheat oats and Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, and Nugget hops.
Bottom Line:
While this hazy IPA is juicy and filled with tropical fruit flavors, it has a few other flavors that might turn off New England-style IPA purists. Namely, slight tart and bitterly piney flavors.
5) Rogue Batsquatch (Taste 6)
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Since every area of the country has its own mythology, the Pacific Northwest (where Rogue is located) is no different. Apparently, there’s a creature called Batsquatch that’s been seen in the area around Mount St. Helens over the years. This year-round beer brewed with flaked wheat, malted wheat, 2-row malts, and oats as well as imperial juice yeast and Belma, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops is known for its massive tropical fruit flavor.
Bottom Line:
Batsquatch is a great example of a New England-style IPA you can get anywhere. It’s hazy, cloudy, creamy, juicy, and filled with tropical fruit flavors with just the right amount of hop bitterness.
4) Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing (Taste 5)
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
One of the first big names to get on the New England-style IPA bandwagon, Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing is still one of the best hazy IPAs you can get anywhere. It gets its fruity, juicy flavor from a mixture of malts, oats, wheat, and yeast, as well as Citra, Magnum, Simcoe, Comet, Mosaic, and El Dorado.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing is still one of the most popular hazies on the market. It’s fruity and sweet, yet has a nice herbal, earthy, slightly bitter finish that brings all the flavors together nicely.
3) Elysian Contact Haze (Taste 10)
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This hazy, juicy, tropical fruit-filled, slightly bitter IPA is brewed with pale malt as well as flaked barley and oats and hopped with a massive amount of El Dorado, Mosaic, Southern Passion, Sabro, Citra, and Sultana hops. It’s hoppy, juicy, and perfect for a hot, humid day.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to easy-to-find grocery store hazy IPAs, it’s tough to beat the well-balanced, juicy flavor profile of Elysian Mind Haze.
2) Firestone Walker Mind Haze (Taste 7)
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This complex, hazy, juicy, flavorful beer gets its flavor from being brewed with a mix of malts, oats, and wheat. It’s also brewed with Mandarina and Cascade hops and dry-hopped with a mixture of hops including Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic, Chinook, Cashmere, Callista, and Idaho 7.
Bottom Line:
Firestone Walker Mind Haze is one of the most well-rounded, complex hazy IPAs on the market. The best part? You can grab this beer at almost any store that sells beer.
1) Two Roads Two Juicy IPA (Taste 4)
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: $15.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Another beer that was at the forefront of the hazy IPA revolution was Two Roads Two Juicy. This 8.2% ABV unfiltered, cloudy New England-style IPA is brewed with Hallertauer Blanc, Citra, and Mandarina Bavaria hops. This creates a juicy, flavorful beer with a ton of citrus and tropical fruit flavors.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to hazy IPAs you can get anywhere, you’d have a difficult time finding one better than Two Roads Two Juicy. Hazy, juicy, tropical fruits, and lightly herbal, subtly bitter hops.
This beer has everything New England-style IPA drinkers crave.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
While I didn’t love every one of these hazy IPAs, I did realize that you don’t have to only look at the trendy craft brewery for a well-made, juicy, delicious, balanced New England-style IPA. There are many options available at your local beer store, a corner bodega, or a grocery store. Keep that in mind and you’ll have a pretty great beer-drinking summer ahead of you.