If you’re a veteran fan of craft beer (and IPAs specifically), you might have a tough time explaining exactly why you’ve been vibing more with craft lagers, pilsners, and hazy IPAs as of late. Craft beer pros call it “hop fatigue” and it’s responsible for that cosmic force that draws longtime IPA aficionados towards beers with a much lighter hop flavor.
Simply put, “hop fatigue” is exactly what it sounds like. It’s your palate looking for a respite from the overly bitter, floral, piney flavor of hops. It prompts you to grab for more malt-forward lagers, crispy pilsners, and hazy, juicy, tropical fruit-centric New England-style IPAs. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are myriad beers and beer styles well-suited for anyone suffering from this hoppy ailment and looking for a change of pace.
Today, we turn out attention to the juicy, cloudy, fruity New England-style IPA specifically. If you’re suffering from hop fatigue but you’re not ready to give up on hops completely, this style of beer is a perfect choice. Some are so juicy they’re on par with drinking a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or mango juice and others have a nice mix of fruit, malt, even oats, and slightly bitter hops. Also, while there’s no wrong time to enjoy this complex, flavorful beer, this spring with its mix of cloudy, rainy days and warm, sunny days just might be the best. Keep scrolling to see eight of our favorite hazy brews for the hop fatigued.
Bissell Brothers Swish
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack
The Beer:
This 8% Double IPA is brewed with Golden Promise malt, Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. It gets its added creamy, sweet flavor from the addition of Maine wheat. Made in the New England-style, it’s juicy, hazy, and doesn’t carry the hop bitterness of many other double IPAs.
Tasting Notes:
This beer has the aromas you’d hope from a New England-style IPA. The nose is all tropical fruit and tart, fresh citrus. It definitely draws you in. The palate continues this trend with notes of ripe pineapple, mango, tangerine, lemon curd, tart grapefruit, and juicy peach. While it’s obvious the hops are there, there isn’t much bitterness at all.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason Bissell Brothers Swish is one of the highest-rated New England-stye IPAs. It’s juicy, sweet, creamy, and should appeal to drinkers not looking for hop bittering.
Sloop Juice Bomb
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
With a name like ‘Juice Bomb’, you certainly know what you’re getting with this beer. This 6.5% year-round New England-style IPA is well-known for its mix of low bitterness and juicy, hazy, tropical fruit and citrus flavor. It’s Sloop’s flagship beer for a reason and definitely deserves a spot in your cooler.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of ripe peach, mango, tangerine, and grapefruit as well as some pine needles and caramel malts to tie everything together. Sipping it reveals more grapefruit, ripe pineapple, mango, guava, passionfruit, and slightly herbal hops and sweet oats. Little to no bitterness at the finish.
Bottom Line:
Its name might be Juice Bomb, but while it has an abundance of juicy, hazy flavor this beer is also well-rounded with a nice malt backbone and sweet oat notes.
Solace Juicy Lucy
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $16.50 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Similar to Sloop Juice Bomb, you have a pretty good idea about what’s inside this can before you pour it into your glass. This 8.5% double IPA is brewed with El Dorado, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops to give it a ton of ripe citrus flavor with very little bitterness.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of fruit esters, ripe peach, caramelized pineapple, and tangerines greet your nose. On the palate, you’ll find more peach and pineapple along with juicy orange, tangerine, slightly herbal pine, and biscuity malts. The finish is all juicy, slightly tart citrus with little bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This beer is called Juicy Lucy, but maybe it should have been called Citrus Explosion because that’s a better name for this juicy, slightly tart at times, citrus-fueled IPA.
Ommegang Neon Rainbows
ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $11.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Brewery Ommegang, situated near the town of Cooperstown in Central New York State is well-known for its traditional take on Belgian-style ales. But the brewery makes more than that. Its Neon Rainbows is a juicy, hazy, memorable New England-style IPA that’s brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial, Citra, and Topaz hops before being dry-hopped with even more Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, and Topaz hops.
Tasting Notes:
Dank pine, tart citrus, ripe tropical fruit, wet grass. The nose is everything you could want in a hazy IPA. One drink and you’re immersed in a world of ripe tangerine, juicy orange, grapefruit, guava, mango, honeydew melon, and sweet, caramel malts. While you can taste that there are hops throughout, they don’t add any bitterness to the juicy, fruity flavor.
Bottom Line:
This year-round New England-style IPA is all tropical juice flavor without any lingering hop bitterness. It’s a great entry into the hazy IPA style.
Tree House Julius
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $5.50 for a 16-ounce can
The Beer:
One of the most well-known New England-style IPAs ever made, Tree House Julius is the Massachusetts brewery’s flagship beer. It’s known for its cloudy, hazy, juicy, creamy flavor highlighted by over-the-top tropical fruit flavors and herbal, earthy hops. It’s a true bucket-list IPA every beer fan should try.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, this beer is all citrus. There are fragrant aromas of grapefruit, ripe orange, tangerine, lemon zest, light, dank resin, mango, and guava. The flavor from the nose was carried into the palate with hints of juicy peach, ripe mango, passion fruit, tangerine, grapefruit, and orange. The finish is dry with little to no bitterness.
Bottom Line:
If you only drink one of these anti-bitter beers, make it Tree House Julius. There’s a reason this is one of the most sought-after IPAs. It’s a citrus bomb that needs to be tasted to be believed.
Almanac Love Hazy
ABV: 6.1%
Average Price: $13.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This complex hazy IPA is brewed with Pilsner malt and rolled oats. It’s dry-hopped with Sabro, Mosaic, and Citra hopped. The result is a complex, well-balanced New England-style IPA known for its bold, juicy tropical fruit flavors and tart, citrus notes.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nice mix of pineapple, coconut, tangerine, dank resin, and sweet oats on this beer’s nose. Drinking it reveals flavors like honeydew melon, pineapple, grapefruit, coconut cream, tangerine, orange, lime zest, and slight pine resin without any of the expected bitterness. It’s creamy, sweet, and delicious.
Bottom Line:
This is a great example of a very hoppy beer that manages to pull out the fruity, citrus flavor and even some dankness without any of the hop bitterness we’re hoping to avoid.
Toppling Goliath King Sue
ABV: 7.8%
Average Price: $17.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
With a name like King Sue, you have to assume this will be hazy IPA royalty. And it is. This 7.8% double IPA gets all of its hop aroma and flavor from the liberal use of Citra hops. The result is a citrus-forward IPA that has more hop bitterness than the rest of the beers on this list, but it’s tempered by the juicy fruit flavor.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find notes of dank pine, ripe grapefruit, tangerine, caramelize pineapple, mango, and sweet caramel malts. Compared to the other hazy IPAs on this list, there is a decent amount of hop bitterness up front. The reason this beer won’t trigger any hop fatigue is the fact that, after the initial slight bitterness, there are notes of mango, pineapple, melon, tart grapefruit, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. It’s also mellowed by sweet oat and malt flavors.
Bottom Line:
Toppling Goliath King Sue is a great beer for fans of overly hoppy, bitter IPAs to slowly work their way down to less bitter, juicy IPAs.
Threes Logical Conclusion
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $19.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This complex, hazy IPA begins with a base of German pilsner malt, German malted wheat, and American wheat flakes, as well as Mosaic, Citra, and Simcoe hops. This results in a multi-faceted beer with bright floral hops, juicy tropical fruit flavors, and sweet wheat and oat notes.
Tasting Notes:
The is a great mix of caramel malts, honey-coated oatmeal, dank pine, ripe peach, tangerine, and mango. The palate continues this trend with hints of slightly bitter pine needles mellow by notes of apricot, tangerine, peach, pineapple, and a slightly herbal, floral flavor. All with a creamy, pleasing, pillowy mouthfeel.
Bottom Line:
Threes Logical Conclusion is another beer that still has some residual hop bitterness that’s paired with enough citrus, tropical fruit, malt, and oat flavors to make it one of many flavors and not overwhelming.
