The Art of the Hazy: A Brewer's Guide

Crafting the Perfect Haze

A Deep Dive into the New England IPA

Updated: 22nd May 2025 | By Gladfield Malt

By now, the craft beer world has thoroughly embraced the haze. What started as a regional anomaly in New England has evolved into a global staple, completely reshaping how we think about hops and yeast. For us, a New England IPA (NEIPA) is more than just a cloudy beer. It is an experience. It is essentially an American IPA that prioritizes an intense, distinct "tropical fruit juice" aroma and flavor. It is unfiltered, visibly hazy, and carries a fuller-bodied, smoother flavor profile with significantly less perceived bitterness than its West Coast counterparts.

However, simple as it may taste to the consumer, brewing a cracking NEIPA requires a nuanced approach and a high degree of technical skill. It is not about throwing ingredients into a kettle haphazardly. It is about creating a deliberate chemical platform for hop expression. Here, we highlight the critical considerations, from water chemistry to yeast selection, that separate a good attempt from a truly great beer. We will walk you through the science, the ingredients, and the pitfalls to ensure your next brew day is a success.

1. The Canvas: Water Chemistry

Water chemistry is one of those elements that, when dialled in, can turn a good beer into a great beer. It is often the missing link for homebrewers who feel their beer lacks "heft." In traditional IPAs, we often look for the "snap" and crispness provided by sulfates (gypsum). In a Hazy IPA, our goal is the exact opposite. We want "softness." The chloride ions work to accentuate the malt's fullness and sweetness, creating that round, pillowy mouthfeel that defines the style.

Target Profile

Chloride to Sulfate Ratio (3:1 to 2:1): You should aim for a higher chloride to sulfate ratio than you would for a West Coast IPA. For example, you might target 150ppm Chloride and only 75ppm Sulfate. This chemical balance is the invisible foundation that supports the heavy hop load without the beer becoming harsh or biting.
Calcium (100-150ppm): Critical for yeast health, enzymatic activity, and flocculation later in the process. Without adequate calcium, the yeast may struggle to ferment completely or interact properly with the hops.
Chloride (150-200ppm): This is the driver of mouthfeel. It promotes "fullness" and "sweetness" on the palate. Some brewers go as high as 200ppm, but be careful as too much can lead to a "chalky" or mineral finish.
Sulfate (75-100ppm): Keep this lower to avoid a dry, bitter finish, but don't eliminate it entirely as it provides necessary structure to the beer.

The Science of Saturation High chloride levels increase the perception of body. By chemically saturating the water with Calcium Chloride, you trick the palate into perceiving the beer as "thicker" or "creamier" than its final gravity would suggest. This helps the beer feel like juice rather than thin beer.

2. Malt Choice & Grist Composition

Think of the malt not just as a source of sugar, but as a structural platform to elevate the hops. The malt needs to provide colour and the essential proteins required to create stable haze, all while staying out of the way of the fruit flavors. It is a balancing act. Too little protein and the beer looks like dirty dishwater. Too much, and it becomes a cloying, porridge-like mess that exhausts the palate.

Grist Components & Ratios

The Base (50-60%): Your choice of base malt dictates the background flavour. A neutral American Ale malt works well, but many brewers prefer German Pilsner or Lager Light for their lighter colour and crispness, which allows the hops to shine brighter. For a slightly sweeter, nuttier backbone that mimics the English origins of the style, Golden Promise or Maris Otter can be used, though they contribute a darker colour.
Protein Adjuncts (Malted vs. Flaked): We need to balance soluble proteins with beta-glucans. Wheat Malt provides excellent foam stability and a doughy flavour. Big O (Malted Oats) is a game-changer here. Unlike flaked oats, Big O has gone through the malting process, offering a distinct creamy flavour, but crucially, it retains the husk. This husk acts as a natural filter aid, preventing the dreaded "stuck mash" that plagues high-adjunct brewing.
The Haze Makers (20-40%): This is where the texture comes from. Flaked Wheat and Rolled Oats have not been malted. They are loaded with high-molecular-weight proteins and beta-glucans. These compounds are too large to dissolve completely, so they remain suspended in the liquid, scattering light to create haze and coating the tongue to create viscosity. A split of 50/50 Wheat to Oats is a common starting point.
Stability (Chit Malt): Used at 3% to 6%, Chit Malt is a secret weapon for modern hazies. It is under-modified, meaning the protein structures haven't been fully broken down. It adds massive head retention and helps stabilize the haze so it doesn't drop out in the keg, all without adding extra colour or fermentable sugars.
Colour and Complexity: Be very careful with Crystal malts. Oxygen is the enemy of this style, and crystal malts can accelerate oxidative staling flavours (like honey or wet cardboard). If you must use them for a "sunrise orange" hue, keep them under 3% and choose lighter crystals. Rye Malt is an excellent alternative for complexity. It adds a spicy, earthy note that plays beautifully against tropical fruit hops, preventing the beer from tasting one-dimensional.

Operational Tip High levels of flaked adjuncts can turn your mash into concrete due to beta-glucans. If you are pushing the limits of oats and wheat (above 20% of the grist) and not using Big O, adding Oat Hulls or Rice Hulls is mandatory. These inert husks create drainage channels in the grain bed, ensuring you can actually collect your wort.

3. Hops & Kettle Additions

In this style, hops are the heroes. Without their aroma, flavor, and bitterness, all your hard work on creating the perfect platform will be lost. The approach here is fundamentally different from traditional brewing, moving away from boiling hops to steeping them. We are treating the wort less like a soup we are cooking and more like a tea we are brewing.

Technique and Selection

Varietal Selection: The goal is "Juice." We generally avoid piney, resinous, or "dank" hop varieties (like Chinook, Columbus, or Northern Brewer) which clash with the soft profile. Instead, we lean into varieties high in total oil content and specific thiols. Citra and Mosaic are the kings of the style for a reason, offering consistent mango and berry notes. However, modern New Zealand hops like Nectaron (intense peach/pineapple) and Riwaka (passionfruit/citrus) are exceptional in Hazy IPAs, offering a unique "diesel/citrus" punch that stands out.
The "Cool-Pool" Technique: This is the most critical hot-side step. In a West Coast IPA, we whirlpool near boiling. In a Hazy IPA, we cool the wort to 80°C - 90°C (or even as low as 75°C) before adding the whirlpool hops. Why? Because alpha acids isomerize (turn bitter) at temperatures near boiling. By dropping the temperature, we prevent isomerization, meaning we can add massive amounts of hops (10g/L or more) to extract flavor oils without making the beer bitter. It decouples flavor from bitterness.
Survivables and Thiols: We are looking for compounds that can survive the heat. Some hop oils evaporate instantly. Others, known as "survivables," hang around. Hops rich in monoterpene alcohols (like Linalool and Geraniol) are excellent for the whirlpool. We also want to maximize thiols, the sulfur compounds that smell like passionfruit and guava. These are often bound up in the hop material and released during fermentation.
Kettle Finings: In traditional brewing, we use Irish Moss or Whirlfloc to coagulate proteins and drop them out for a clear beer. In a Hazy IPA, do not use kettle finings. We want those proteins to remain in suspension. They are the scaffolding that the hop oils attach to. If you drop the proteins, you drop the haze and the flavor intensity.

4. Yeast: The Engine of Juice

Yeast choice is arguably as important as hop choice. We are looking for a strain that provides the perfect level of attenuation while leaving behind just the right touch of sweetness. The haze in a great NEIPA is largely due to colloidal haze (protein-polyphenol interactions) and not excessive yeast load. A beer that is hazy because it is full of suspended yeast will burn the throat, taste chalky, and cause gastric distress. We want the yeast to do its job and then leave the party.

Recommended Strains & Characteristics

The Ester Profile: We want "POF-" (Phenolic Off Flavor negative) strains that produce high levels of fruity esters. We are looking for yeast that naturally produces aromas of peach, apricot, and pineapple during fermentation. These esters layer over the hop aromas, filling in the gaps and creating a cohesive "fruit punch" character. A clean American ale yeast often feels too empty for this style.
Lallemand LalBrew Pomona: An ideal modern choice. It lends itself to fruity styles and is bred specifically to enhance biotransformation. It has high enzymatic activity that releases thiols, pushing the tropical notes even further than the hops alone could achieve.
LalBrew Windsor: This strain is interesting because it cannot ferment maltotriose (a complex sugar). As a result, it leaves a higher final gravity. This is excellent if you want a sweeter, fuller-bodied beer without resorting to adding lactose, but be aware it finishes very sweet.
Verdant IPA & New England (London Alle III): These are the industry standards. They produce massive "stone fruit" esters and leave a soft, pillowy mouthfeel. However, they can be finicky. They require plenty of oxygen at startup and can stall if not managed correctly. They are also highly susceptible to pressure, so avoid fermenting under pressure (spunding) until the very end of fermentation.
Fermentation Temperature: Start these strains slightly cooler (18°C-19°C) to establish healthy growth without throwing fusel alcohols (solvent flavors). Then, as fermentation slows, let the temperature free-rise to 21°C-22°C. This encourages the yeast to clean up diacetyl and drives the production of those desirable fruity esters.

5. The Dry Hop & Conditioning

The beauty of the dry hop regime is that there are thousands of ways to do it, but the rules of engagement are strict regarding oxygen, temperature, and timing. This style is notoriously fragile, and the difference between a world-class beer and a drain pour often happens in the cold side process.

Phase 1: Biotransformation (High Krausen)

The first dry hop addition often happens while the beer is still fermenting actively (typically Day 2 or 3). This is not just about adding aroma; it is about chemistry. Yeast enzymes, specifically beta-lyase and beta-glucosidase, can interact with hop compounds. They cleave the bonds of glycosides, turning non-aromatic compounds into aromatic ones. For example, they can transform Geraniol (floral/rose) into Citronellol (citrus/fruity). This adds a layer of complexity that cannot be achieved by post-fermentation hopping alone.

Phase 2: The Aroma Charge (Post-Fermentation)

The main aroma charge happens after fermentation is complete. This is about pure extraction of volatile oils like Myrcene and Linalool.

Contact Time: Less is more. Studies show that maximum extraction occurs within 24 to 48 hours. Leaving hops in the fermenter for weeks does not add more fruit flavor; it extracts vegetal, grassy, and onion-like flavors. Get the hops in, give them two days, and get them off the beer.
Temperature: Dry hopping at cooler temperatures (14°C) can reduce the extraction of polyphenols (hop burn) while still allowing the oils to dissolve.

Phase 3: The Danger Zone (Oxygen)

Oxygen is the enemy. In a Hazy IPA, oxidation happens rapidly. It turns the beer a muddy purple/grey colour and introduces flavors of wet cardboard and sherry.

Closed Transfers: You cannot use a siphon or an open bucket. You must use CO2 to push the beer from the fermenter into a keg that has been completely purged of oxygen (filled with sanitizer and pushed out with CO2).
Purging Hops: When adding dry hops, you are introducing oxygen. Many pros use "hop dosers" or magnets to drop hops without opening the lid. If you must open the port, do it while the beer is producing CO2 (active ferment) or flow CO2 into the headspace while you work.

Phase 4: Troubleshooting Common Issues

Hop Creep: This is a major issue in heavily hopped beers. Dry hops contain amylase enzymes (similar to those in your mash). These enzymes break down the unfermentable long-chain sugars in your finished beer into simple sugars. The yeast, which was dormant, wakes up and eats these new sugars.
The Result: The beer over-carbonates, gushes when opened, dries out, and produces Diacetyl (butter flavor).
The Fix: The "Soft Crash." Before adding your final dry hop, cool the fermenter to 14°C (58°F). This temperature is too cold for the enzymes to be highly active but warm enough for hop oils to extract. Alternatively, you can pasteurize or use sulphites, but temperature control is the brewer's best tool.

Hop Burn: If your fresh beer feels like it is burning the back of your throat (like vodka or chili heat), you have "Hop Burn." This is caused by suspended polyphenol particles from the massive dry hop charge.
The Fix: Time and Cold. It is not an infection. It is physical particulate. Cold crash the beer to 1°C-2°C and let it sit for at least a week, ideally two. The polyphenols will settle out, and the burn will mellow into a smooth, pleasant bitterness. Patience is the only true cure for hop burn.

Deep Dive: Colloidal Haze True haze is stable. It is formed when proteins from the oats/wheat bond with polyphenols from the hops. This bond is permanent (colloidal). Unlike yeast haze, which settles out over time, this haze glows and carries flavor. By managing your pH (aiming for 5.2-5.4 in the kettle) and maximizing protein/polyphenol interaction, you create a "permanent" haze that lasts the life of the keg.

6. Serving Suggestions

A NEIPA is best enjoyed fresh. This is not a beer for the cellar or long-term aging. The volatile hop oils degrade quickly, and the "juice" fades into a malty shadow of itself within 3 months.

A glass of hazy IPA with hops and brewery background

Temperature: Serve at 6°C to 8°C. This is slightly warmer than you would serve a lager. The warmer temperature allows the tropical esters and hop aromatics to volatilize and reach the nose.
Glassware: Use a wide-bowled glass (Teku or Tulip) or a dedicated IPA glass to concentrate aromatics.
Visuals: Admire the glow. If you have followed the steps correctly, it should look like a glass of fresh orange juice. Enjoy the result of your careful chemistry and process control.