Waikiki dives into the haze game

Bright tropical fruit aromas. Mango, guava jelly, lilikoi with a hint of pineapple. Silky smooth mouthfeel. Bright, vibrant flavors bursting out in every direction. Sounds pretty amazing, right? We’re talking about hazy IPAs here. These are some of the reasons hazy IPAs have become the most popular style of craft beer in America. Every major brand is making one and it’s not hard to find one on tap at most restaurants.

Here locally, we’re finally starting to see more and more options including Waikiki Brewing Co.’s release of Waikiki Haze this week in cans. Although the style has been rampantly popular for the last decade, Waikiki hasn’t focused much on making these aromatic and cloudy beers, until now.

Call it stubborn brewers’ pride, resistance to change, stuck in old ways as to why Waikiki took so long to jump on the Hazy IPA train. Even with customers demanding the style for years, the brewery has only brewed a few hazy IPAs for draft only and never released them wide in cans. Waikiki Haze may be late to the party, but it is incredibly well crafted and executed. Whatever the reason was for the wait, it was well worth it.

Waikiki Haze has all the hallmarks of a great hazy IPA. It’s incredibly aromatic, with smoothie-like fruit notes filling the air as soon as you pour into a glass (seriously, take the time to enjoy the aroma). It’s got great haze, pouring pale yellow and is completely opaque. It’s smooth and soft in your mouth, dancing around without any harshness. It’s loaded with tropical fruit, peach, nectarine and Skittles flavors, but not sweet and has an almost unnoticeable bitterness. It checks the boxes of all of the qualities you want in a hazy IPA.

I’ll spare you some of the overly scientific and technical jargon of how this beer was made, but according to Waikiki Brewing head brewer Joe Lorenzen, a combination of Citra, Cryo Pop and Idaho Gem hops were used along with a malt bill that was over half-flaked oats and white wheat. See, making a good hazy IPA is actually really difficult to do. Water chemistry, hop chemistry and a lot of other technical knowledge is needed in order for a perfect amalgamation to happen. Cyro Pop itself is a marvel of modern hop science that helps amplify the other hop flavors.

Waikiki Haze cans are being released Friday, April 22 at both Waikiki Brewing locations (Waikiki and Kakaako) and to wider state distribution starting the week of April 25.

And if you’re into trying more local hazy IPAs, here are a few that are widely available:

• Maui Mosaic Mo’Hazy

• Ola Brew Da Hazy

• Kohola Lahaina Haze

• Beer Lab HI Nene, Iwa or Kolea

• Hana Koa Totally Nektar.

Certified cicerone Tim Golden is part owner of Village Bottle Shop & Tasting Room. Follow him on Instagram (@beerinhawaii) and check him out as co-host of “The Art of Beer” wherever you get your podcasts. Tim’s column appears every third Wednesday in Crave.