IPA Knowledge Base
Styles

New England IPA

2 min read·388 words
stylesamericanhazy

The New England IPA, also called the Hazy IPA or Juicy IPA, is the soft, opaque, tropical-forward counterpoint to the West Coast IPA. Where the West Coast style prizes clarity and bitterness, the NEIPA prizes haze, a pillowy mouthfeel, and saturated juicy hop flavor with the bitterness pulled deliberately low. It is the most influential IPA development of the 2010s.

#Origins

The style emerged in Vermont and the wider Northeast in the early 2010s, a story told in The New England IPA Emergence. The Alchemist's Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead's beers are commonly cited as foundational. Within a decade the hazy IPA had spread worldwide and reshaped commercial expectations of the category.

#How the Haze Is Made

NEIPA haze is intentional and structural (see Hop Haze and Colloidal Stability). It is engineered through:

#The Juicy Flavor

The signature "juice" comes from heavy late hopping and from Biotransformation (yeast enzymes converting hop compounds during fermentation), plus the release of aromatic thiols. The result is mango, pineapple, peach, and citrus with little of the pine or resin found in a West Coast IPA.

#Sensory Profile

ElementCharacter
AppearanceOpaque, glowing, orange-juice-like
AromaSaturated tropical and stone fruit
BitternessLow and soft; see IBU and Perceived Bitterness
MouthfeelFull, creamy, pillowy; see The Science of Mouthfeel
FinishRound, soft, gently sweet
▲The freshness problem

NEIPAs are extremely perishable. Their soft hop aromatics fade and oxidize within weeks, and haze can degrade. See Hop Fade and Oxidation and IPA Freshness and Shelf Life. Drink them as fresh as possible, cold.

#Continue Reading

Referenced by 86

Alpha Acids and BitternessAmerican IPAAnchor Liberty Ale and the First Modern IPABJCP and Style GuidelinesBeer Distribution and the Three-Tier SystemBeer Flavor WheelBest Double IPAsBest New England IPAsBest Time and Occasion to Drink an IPABest West Coast IPAs
Show all 86 references
BiotransformationBlack IPABuilding an IPA Tasting FlightCitraClarification and Haze ManagementCryo Hops and Lupulin PowderDouble Dry HoppingDouble IPADrinking an IPADry Hop Creep ExplainedDry HoppingFood Pairing with IPAsFrequently Asked QuestionsGalaxyGlassware for IPAsGlossary of IPA TermsHop Additions and TimingHop Aroma CompoundsHop Creep and RefermentationHop Fade and OxidationHop Growing RegionsHop Haze and Colloidal StabilityHop Oils and TerpenesHop Variety IndexHopsHow to Taste an IPAIBU and Perceived BitternessIPA Beer Statistics and DataIPA Family TreeIPA Festivals and CompetitionsIPA Freshness and Shelf LifeIPA Style Comparison TableIPA StylesIPA Yeast StrainsIPA and Cheese PairingIconic IPAs That Defined the StyleIndustry and CultureIngredientsIsomerization of Alpha AcidsLandmark IPA BreweriesLautering and SpargingMaltMashingMaster IndexMilkshake IPAMilling and the Grain BillMosaicNelson SauvinNew England IPA RecipeNoble and English HopsOff-Flavors in IPAReading an IPA LabelRecipe FormulationRegional Drinking CulturesRise of the West Coast IPASabroScience and SensoryServing TemperatureSession IPASpecialty Malts and AdjunctsStrataStyle IndexTasting and Evaluating IPAsThe Chemistry of Hop BitternessThe Hype Beer PhenomenonThe IPA Knowledge BaseThe New England IPA EmergenceThe Science of MouthfeelThiols and Hop BurstUntappd and Beer Rating CultureWaterWater Chemistry and the Sulfate-Chloride RatioWest Coast IPAWhat Is an IPA?Whirlpool and Hop StandYeast