Hazy IPAs from Allagash, Fogtown and Rising Tide. Photo by Ben Lisle

It’s been over a decade since the “New England IPA” took craft beer by storm. Ironic, then, that New England’s most storied brewery has just now released its interpretation of the region’s eponymous style. Allagash Hazy IPA has arrived.

Brewmaster Jason Perkins jokes that Allagash has been brewing hazy beer since the release of Allagash White nearly three decades ago. At the time, people were puzzled by its cloudy appearance; accustomed to the transparent clarity of filtered, mass-produced pale lager, many thought there was something wrong with it. But those days are well behind us.

“Hazy IPAs are not a trend,” Perkins noted, but “firmly a part of the craft beer scene.” And as the most popular beer style out there, it is one that visitors to the brewery’s tasting room often request.

The brewery has made a number of IPAs over the years, including the Belgian-style IPA Hugh Malone; the Black IPA Upward Movement (2022); the malty amber IPA Swiftly; and the balanced American IPA Hop Reach. (Gone, but not forgotten, is Brett IPA – that funky, fruity genius of yore.)

The brewery may have taken its time to get to a New England IPA, but then again, slow and steady sometimes wins the race. For now, Allagash Hazy IPA is available for purchase at the brewery only (on draft and in cans). It is well worth the trip, and while there, you can also enjoy some of the experimental beers of the “From Maine, with Love” series.

There is, of course, no shortage of hazies to sample alongside the new Allagash. I went for a couple I’ve seen around, but hadn’t yet tasted – one newish, one not. Puffin Party, released a couple months back, is the most recent addition to Rising Tide’s year-round lineup. Maine Coast IPA was Fogtown’s first commercially available beer, released in 2017. And in spite of my affection for this Ellsworth-based brewery, I’ll confess I’d never had it – an error now corrected, in satisfying fashion.

HAZY IPA, ALLAGASH BREWING CO.

ABV: 6.7%
TASTING NOTES: Hazy IPA is brewed with Allagash Base Malt, Raw White Wheat, Maine Pale Malt, Bonlander Munich and Aurora Mills Raw Quick Oats. The brewers use Nugget, Chinook, Mosaic, Citra, Idaho 7 and El Dorado hops, with a British Ale V yeast. It is straw-colored. A citrusy aroma is joined to flavors of orange, grapefruit, lime, peach and watermelon. It has a creamy body with moderate carbonation. The finish is bitter and balanced. In a world drowning in Hazy IPA, this one is distinctive for its composure. It’s good, and it knows it.

MAINE COAST IPA, FOGTOWN BREWING CO.

ABV: 6%
TASTING NOTES: Maine Coast IPA is brewed with Maine-grown oat, malt and wheat; Citra, Ella and Mosaic hops; and a New England yeast strain. It pours gold, with scents of orange, tangerine, peach, pineapple and melon. A touch of malt is present as well. Medium bodied, with moderate carbonation, it finishes with a pithy, spicy bitterness.

PUFFIN PARTY, RISING TIDE BREWING CO.

ABV: 6.5%
TASTING NOTES: Puffin Party is made with two-row barley, Carapils malt, flaked oats and pilsner malt from the Maine Malt House. Centennial, Columbus and Sabro Hops are deployed in the kettle; it is then dry-hopped with Columbus, Sabro, Strata and Centennial. The brewery’s house hazy yeast pulls it together. Pale gold in appearance, it is soft-bodied with a moderate carbonation. Redolent with coconut, cream, lime and cedar – reminiscent of a cocktail. There is a slight, late-arriving bitterness to the finish.

Ben Lisle is an assistant professor of American Studies at Colby College. He lives among the breweries in Portland’s East Bayside, where he writes about cultural history, urban geography and craft beer culture.