Glory haze

The “haze craze” is starting to reach Spokane.

Hazy, juicy New England-style IPAs – with their smooth mouthfeel, fruity flavors and low bitterness – are the hottest craft beer trend across the country. Such Northwest breweries as Great Notion in Portland and Reuben’s Brews in Seattle have been winning acclaim for their interpretations.

Now three local versions – from Iron Goat, Orlison and Perry Street – have gone on tap in the past week. Daft Badger in Coeur d’Alene is planning another.

And Whistle Punk, which has been distributing its rendition on a limited basis for several months, will make that the permanent IPA offering at its upcoming taproom in downtown Spokane.

All the major components of brewing play a part in creating the style. Special yeast strains stay suspended in the beer and produce fruity notes. Large amounts of late-addition hops contribute to both the aroma and the appearance, with their residue. Oats and wheat in the grain bill lend both smoothness and proteins that can add to the haze. And higher levels of chloride in the water soften the beer’s body.     

Perry Street in January announced it was planning a yearlong series of New England-style IPAs, experimenting with all of those ingredients.

“Each one will be different,” says owner/brewer Ben Lukes. “What’s fun about this is that we’re learning with our customers as we go along.”

Lukes sampled as many authentic versions of the style as he could find from friends in the beer-trading scene to prepare for the project.

His first offering (6.7 percent alcohol by volume, 60 International Bitterness Units) was hopped with Citra thoughout the boil, and massively dry-hopped –four pounds per barrel – with Denali, a newer, intensely fruity variety, and powdered Mosaic.

A bright but opaque golden, it’s soft and aromatic with juicy pineapple and peach flavors and a crisp, lightly bitter finish. “If this is any indicator, I’m excited about where we’re going,” Lukes says.

His second release will feature Galaxy hops, an Australian variety known for its passion fruit character, and huskless, malted oats called Golden Naked. The beers will continue to get hazier as he harvests and reuses the yeast from each batch, Lukes says.

“I’m having a good time playing around with it,” he says. “It will be fun to take a whole year and work with one style, and see what we can achieve.”