OREGON FOG

FLAGSHIP HAZY IPA WITH CITRA AND MOSAIC HOPS
(ABV 6.5%)

This is bar none the most experimented beer in our history.  Somewhat secretly, though many have heard, it’s never quite the same twice.  The malt bill, water chemistry, yeast pitch, and hop schedule have each moved around over the years. 

Hazy IPAs have gotten plenty of press from both opinionated sides since they were really popularized in around the early 2010’s.  There is a bit of speculation as to how they really came to be, but generally it’s agreed that the style comes from New England, and probably Vermont.  That might be a bit of a fenced-in origin story, so it’s best to stick with the broad details.  

The style’s first notable characteristic is, well, haze.  This opacity is not only a physical one- using suspended yeast and hops in solution- but a chemical one as well.  Manipulation of proteins (many from heavy additions of wheat and/or oats in malted or unmalted form) typically precipitated out of solution to leave clear beer allows the style to retain that permanent notable haze.  The chemistry research is ongoing, but interestingly, these proteins not only contribute to the visible haze, but they contribute in a big way to the second notable characteristic of the style: aroma.  Again, industry research is ongoing- our brewery has even worked with the EOU Chemistry lab on a few angles of this- but generally it seems that these proteins hold on to aromatic compounds in a way that other beers just don’t.  This aroma is the basis for the style.  Heavy aromatic hop varieties, heavy aromatic hop schedules.  Aim for citrus, tropical fruits, and juice in smell and taste.  

There are so many variables to each beer style, but the beauty of Hazy IPAs is that the challenges and opportunities are still introducing themselves, and the industry grows every day toward cultivating- both literally (in the cases of selective hop and grain breeding) and figuratively- proportionately aromatic IPAs.