From the Beer Writer: The older I get, the more pleasure I derive from seeing stand-up young people work hard and take pride in what they do. This extends to the beer industry, where the brewers who will craft our ales and lagers for the next few decades are getting their boots wet and learning the ropes. One such individual is Hayden Weir, a CSU San Marcos graduate who started behind the bar at San Marcos’ Dos Desperados Brewery before ascending to his current role as head brewer. He’s finding his way, taking advice from fermentation vets and providing peeks of styles he’s into care of beers like Hazy Daisy IPA. This 6.5% alcohol-by-volume New England-style IPA looks like a candle when poured into one of Dos Desperados’ steins, but it drinks lighter and softer, with pleasing orange and pineapple appeal on the palate from Mosaic and Citra hops. Before Weir came along, hazy IPAs were outlawed, but now this and other new, murky offerings are among the brewery’s best sellers.
From the Brewer: “My goal since being given the head brewer opportunity has been to create exciting new beers to expand our portfolio as a brewery. Our owner, Steve Munson, although from Vermont, was hesitant to make a hazy IPA because he has always enjoyed brewing and drinking traditional beers. So I went ahead and made one anyway! Adding Citra and Mosaic right at flame-out instead of during whirlpool gives Hazy Daisy IPA enough bitterness to make you think twice about assuming all hazy IPAs are juice bombs. When it comes to the name, I had it picked out months before brewing this beer. My Golden Retriever’s name is Daisy…so that was a no-brainer. We plan on having this beer year-round so it can be your go-to hazy IPA.”—Hayden Weir, Head Brewer, Dos Desperados Brewery