What Makes Hazy IPA Hazy? The Science, and How to Brew One

The short answer: hazy IPA, also called New England IPA or NEIPA, is cloudy because proteins from oats and wheat bind with polyphenols and oils from heavy late and dry hopping, forming tiny particles that stay suspended. It isn’t hazy because of yeast: a good hazy IPA shouldn’t taste yeasty. It drinks soft and juicy, with big tropical and citrus aroma and low perceived bitterness.

Want to brew one? Start with our classic hazy IPA or the lighter hazy pale ale, both fermented with London Ale III. Or try the popular Jabba Juice from the AHA’s Big Brew, or our kveik hazies, Cloud Walker (El Dorado and Comet) and Chasing Ghosts (Citra and Simcoe), both fermented with kveik, or the dank pale ale and IPA.

	Hazy / New England IPA	West Coast IPA
Look	Opaque, orange-yellow	Clear, golden
Grain bill	Pale malt plus 10–30% oats and wheat	Mostly pale malt, little or no crystal
Hops	Mostly whirlpool and large dry hops	Bittering charge plus late and dry hops
Bitterness	25–60 IBU, soft	40–70 IBU, firm
Water	Chloride-forward for a round mouthfeel	Sulfate-forward for a crisp finish
Yeast	Fruity, low-flocculating ale strains	Clean American ale strains
Shelf life	Best within weeks; oxygen turns it dull and brown	Keeps longer

Where the haze comes from

• Proteins from oats and wheat. Both are rich in proteins and beta-glucans that barley malt has less of. They give the soft, full body and the raw material for haze.
• Hop compounds. Big whirlpool and dry hop additions add polyphenols and hop oils. These bind with the proteins into particles too small to settle out, which is why hazy IPAs get hazier as you add more hops.
• Yeast, a little. Low-flocculating strains stay in suspension longer and add some haze, but haze that is mostly yeast tastes bready and bitter, and it drops out in the keg.

That’s also why a hazy IPA can clear up. Long cold storage, finings and filtering all pull the particles out. If you want to keep the haze, skip the finings and go easy on long cold crashes.

How to brew a hazy IPA

Step	What to do
Grain	60–80% pale or Pilsner malt, 10–30% oats and wheat (flaked or malted), optionally 5% Carapils. Little or no crystal malt, which dulls the fruit.
Water	More chloride than sulfate, around 2:1, for a soft, round mouthfeel. See our water chemistry guide.
Mash	152–156°F (67–69°C) for body. With lots of oats, add rice hulls so the mash doesn’t stick.
Boil	Little or no bittering hops; many recipes use none at all.
Whirlpool	Cool the wort to 170–180°F (77–82°C) and add a big charge of hops for 20 to 30 minutes. You get flavour with little bitterness.
Yeast	A fruity, low-flocculating strain such as London Ale III, a hazy IPA dry yeast or a kveik. See our kveik guide.
Dry hop	About 5 to 8 oz per 5 gallons in total. Many brewers split it: a small charge during active fermentation, and the main charge once fermentation slows. 2 to 4 days of contact is plenty.
Package	Transfer without letting air in, into a keg purged with CO₂, and keep it cold.

Dry hopping during fermentation

Hops added while the yeast is still active can pick up extra fruity notes, because yeast enzymes convert some hop compounds (often called biotransformation), and the CO₂ still coming off helps scrub out the oxygen the hops bring in. Hops added after fermentation give a fresher, greener hop aroma. Dry hops can also restart fermentation a little (“hop creep”) and bring back diacetyl, so wait a few days after the last addition and check that the gravity is stable before you package. See our dry hopping guide and getting the most from dry hops.

Keep oxygen out

Oxygen is the fastest way to ruin a hazy IPA. Within days it can turn a bright orange beer dull, grey or brown, and flatten the juicy aroma into something like cardboard or onion. The heavy hop load makes hazy IPAs especially sensitive.

• Dry hop without opening the fermenter. A HopDrop on a top port lets you purge the hops with CO₂ and drop them in without opening the lid.
• Transfer under pressure. From a closed, pressure-rated fermenter like a Unitank, push the beer into a purged keg with CO₂, with no siphon and no splashing.
• Drink it fresh. Hazy IPAs are at their best in the first 4 to 6 weeks. Keep them cold the whole time.

More on this in our guide to keeping oxygen out.

Common hazy IPA problems

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Turns brown or grey	Oxygen after fermentation	Closed dry hopping and transfers, purged kegs
Harsh, burning bitterness (“hop burn”)	Lots of hop and yeast particles still in suspension	A short cold crash, 1 to 2 days, or give it a week in the keg
Grassy or vegetal	Dry hop contact too long or too warm	2 to 4 days of contact, then get the beer off the hops
Butter or butterscotch	Diacetyl, often from hop creep	Keep it warm a few more days after dry hopping; see our diacetyl rest guide
Haze drops out	Too few oats and wheat, or long cold storage	More oats and wheat; skip finings; drink it young
Thin body	Low mash temperature or too few adjuncts	Mash at 154–156°F (68–69°C) with 15–30% oats and wheat

Where hazy IPA came from

The style grew up in Vermont and the rest of New England in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The Alchemist’s Heady Topper, first brewed in 2003 and canned from 2011, is widely credited with inspiring it, and breweries across the region followed with soft, juicy, unfiltered IPAs. The BJCP style guidelines added Hazy IPA as its own style in 2021. For the longer story of IPA, see our history of IPA.

Frequently asked questions

Is hazy IPA the same as New England IPA?

Yes. Hazy IPA, New England IPA and NEIPA are names for the same style.

Is the haze just yeast?

No. Most of the haze comes from proteins bound to hop compounds. A little yeast haze is normal, but a beer that’s mostly yeast tastes bready and bitter.

Why did my hazy IPA turn brown?

Oxygen. Even a small amount picked up during dry hopping or transfer oxidizes the hop compounds and darkens the beer within days. Dry hop closed and transfer under CO₂.

How long does a hazy IPA last?

It’s best within 4 to 6 weeks of packaging, kept cold. The aroma fades quickly after that.

What hops are best for hazy IPA?

Fruity, oil-rich varieties: Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, El Dorado, Strata, Nelson Sauvin and Idaho 7 are popular. Two or three together usually beats a single hop.

How is it different from a West Coast IPA?

West Coast IPA is clear, dry and bitter, with pine and citrus. Hazy IPA is cloudy, softer and juicier, with low perceived bitterness. Try our West Coast IPA recipe to taste the difference.