From the Beer Writer: With such a vast number of hazy IPAs in the market and nearly every brewery in San Diego County making one, it’d be easy to mistake this as an easy style to brew. Take, for instance the “lazy IPA” nickname given them by numerous members of the brewing industry. Certainly, the weightier, opaque nature of the beer makes certain flaws more difficult to notice, but there is a science and technique to making the Northeast US’ take on the India pale ale. Recently, one of San Diego’s most veteran brewmasters, Second Chance Beer Co.‘s Marty Mendiola, decided to venture into the murklands, and in doing so he consulted contemporaries and prepped himself with as much info as he could get his hands on in his effort to craft a winning juice bomb. The result is Hazed For Daze, a 7.4% alcohol-by-volume beer with the texture of recently-shaken pulpy OJ and flavor to match. A thin, creamy head makes for a creamsicle-like experience minus the sugar, though just enough exists to make the finish on this minutely-bitter IPA bittersweet. It’s good to see such an exacting approach put forth by a brewer of stellar repute, and that earnestness shows up in the finished product.
From the Brewer: “It has been a journey for me to get into hazy IPAs. I tried quite a few and found I only like a few of them. Modern Times, Pure Project and Port Brewing stood out in San Diego for me, so I started to research the style more. I found that the brewers who started the style on the East Coast were looking for something low in bitterness, with the more creamy, fluffy mouthfeel of something like a hefeweizen, but still hoppy as hell with the big, juicy, tropical-fruit notes from certain hop varieties and dry-hopping techniques. Then I was intrigued! I always love a challenge. Once I knew more about the origins and the goal of the first brewers of this style, it seemed like fun to try our hand at it. I think we have the mouthfeel down pretty well, with the flaked oat and malted wheat and lower attenuation than a normal IPA. We also lowered the IBUs (international bittering units) while at the same time dry-hopping with more pounds-per-barrel than ever before. The result is a fluffy mouthfeel (sorry but I love that term) with a big, juicy, dry-hop flavor and aroma, and just enough bitterness to ‘close the loop’ and have the aftertaste finish more on the dry side, as I prefer in most all of our beers. I think this second batch is way better than the first and I am already thinking about the tinkering we will do to make it even better.”—Marty Mendiola, Co-founder & Brewmaster, Second Chance Beer Co.