New England beer invasion: Where to find these hazy brews in Petaluma

Where to find and taste these fruit-forward brews|

Once a trendy haze, New England-style IPAs seem to have found a new home as an influx of California brewers move the style from gimmick to official variety. New England IPAs, or NEIPAs for short, recently secured a spot on the official beer style guidelines of the Brewers Association, and the Beer Judging Certification Program has added supplemental materials for judging these East Coast-style homebrews.

Most beer lovers know West Coast IPAs with its abundance of Pacific Northwest hops that produce a piney bitterness, sometimes with caramel malt notes, and high clarity (think Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Lagunitas IPA). East Coast IPAs came later and tend to tamp down the bitterness with fruity, citrussy hops, using yeast and hops added late in the brewing process to create the trademark haze. Vermont's The Alchemist brewery is often credited with the style when its Heady Topper IPA introduced craft brew fans to a decidedly unapologetic cloudy beer with high citrus and tropical fruit notes. NEIPAs are known for juicy ales with a soft and full-bodied mouthfeel. They often look like an orange smoothie, frothy and sweeter than the West Coast versions.

Curious beer drinkers can sample and compare these brews locally at Jamison's Roaring Donkey (146 Kentucky St.) from Feb. 18 through Mar. 1 daily during the East Coast vs. West Coast IPA challenge. The bar will offer tastes from locals like Cooperage, 3 Disciples, Old Possum, 101 North, Lagunitas, HenHouse, Old Caz, Fogbelt, Seismic and Barrel Brothers pitted against East Coast IPA rivals with hard-to-find NEIPAs on draft.

Freshness is key for the New England hazy, so few New England brewers export their crafts to Sonoma County. Thankfully, New England brewers pioneered the 16-ounce craft beer can, once thought to hide the off-appearance of a hazy, thick beer, making NEIPAs easier to find in mail order beer subscriptions and local bottle shops. In cans, look for the Trillium and Treehouse varieties.

For those curious to try the style, check out these local beers to find your hazy sweet spot:

At Jamison's Roaring Donkey, sample Lagunitas Sour Pineapple (6.1 percent ABV), a citrus wonderland with yuzu juice offering a sweet, puckering tart finish. Also on tap, Elysian (Chicago) Space Dust (8.2 percent ABV) highlights Chinook, Citra and Amarillo hops, creating a fruit-forward sweetness with a bitter finish. Moylan's (Novato) also comes on the scene with Haze Crazy IPA (5.8 percent ABV).

Taps (54 E. Washington St.) is our go-to for new varieties of NEIPA, and the taproom often gets three or four directly from East Coast brewing sources.

HenHouse Brewing (1333 N. McDowell Blvd.) features the unfiltered series Stoked, which is focused on single hop varietals like Citra or Mosaic. Phantom Time is also on tap, as well as available in 16-ounce cans at Willibees and Petaluma Market.

Brewsters (229 N Water St.) currently serves up Barrel Brothers (Windsor) Taking My Talents to New England, a 6.9 percent ABV IPA. Also try a milkshake IPA, which is an ale with lactose added during the brewing process to ramp up the smoothie mouthfeel. Brewers often add pureed fruit to enhance the fruit shake texture. We loved Barrel Brothers' Milk Was a Bad Choice, a pink berry milkshake treat in the can we found at Willibees.

The Block (20 Grey St.) is pouring Heretic Brewing's (Fairfield) Make America Juicy Again (6.5 percent ABV) featuring prominent Belma, Mosaic and Citra hops balanced with a tropical pineapple, mango and citrus flavors. Also try Ghost Town's (Oakland) Coffin Juice (6.6% ABV).

Three Disciples' relatively new taproom in Santa Rosa (501 Mendocino Ave.) embraces the East Coast shake with three NEIPA styles including Glow Sticks, showcasing West Coast hop varieties like Centennial, Amarillo and Idaho Seven hops. This pineapple- and lemon-forward pucker ends with a clean bitterness and is 6.3 percent ABV. Meet the Simcoes (6.4 percent ABV), another 3 Disciples brew, highlights this Pacific Northwest hop varietal with intense aromas, and citrus, grapefruit and passionfruit flavor notes. Pulp Fission, a juicy IPA with high hop elements and late sweetness emphasizes the juicy pulp trend with a 7.9 percent ABV.

Sonoma Springs Brewing (Sonoma) tests out that market with Juicy in the Sky, a hazy double IPA at 8.3 percent ABV. Also try Russian River's venture into the East Coast style with Tempo Change, a 7.45 percent hazy IPA with all American-born hops.

Worth the drive

Moonraker (Auburn) is a must-visit once you get a taste for the style, fast becoming the spearhead for its Orange Julius-like hazy IPAs. These beers are a little harder to find in Petaluma, but worth a stopover on your next trip to the Sierras to taste test five or six juicy IPAs. Moonraker's Yojo IPA is gaining a reputation that rivals Russian River's Pliny the Younger. Also look for occasional tap takeovers at Taps Petaluma. In the can, try Simcoe Crush, All the Nelsons, Zulu Haze and Hermit releases.

Fieldwork (West Berkeley, with locations throughout the Bay Area) can waver from super hoppy bitter powerhouses to fruity creamsicle-like beers. They're hard to name as these fresh beers rarely last a week on tap, but if you get your hands on Abandoned Earth IPA, All the Pulp Triple IPA or Atomic Garden Double IPA, try a flight. Often available at Brewsters and the Block, if you can't find it here, the Napa Fieldwork location is worth a day trip.

Southern California hosts landmark juicy brewers - like the coveted Monkish, Modern Times and Mikkeler for a San Diego fruit twist on the usual opaque bombs. San Francisco brewer Cellarmaker also takes on the juicy trend with its hazy and bold double and imperial IPAs. You may find these at Beer Craft's Rohnert Park or Novato locations.

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