With the hazy IPA, is there ever enough? For breweries looking to delve into the crowded category with a new offering, you really need to stand out. One brewery never shy in doing just that is Dogfish Head, which recently introduced Hazy-O! This new hazy IPA is brewed with four types of oats: malted, rolled, naked and oat milk. Dogfish makes it a point to note that this will be the first nationally-distributed oat milk IPA on the market. Here’s what you need to know about a beer that Dogfish says took almost a year of research and development to perfect. 

One of the only drink categories growing faster than the hazy IPA style is the growth of oat milk. Dogfish Head, citing SPINS data from December, says in their release that the health-forward drink is up 220% in 2020. The rapid emergence of oat-focused products in the health food market has already bled into craft beer, with many breweries using malted and rolled oats to obtain a creamy mouthfeel and customary murky composition in their hazy IPAs. 

Dogfish Head decided to take this brewing trend one-step further by using oat milk from Elmhurst 1925, a plant-based milk producer out of New York, to create their Hazy IPA rendition. Alongside the four types of oats, Hazy-O! also includes a huge dosage of hops to deliver tropical notes of citrus, mango and pineapple.

While the hops might pack the flavor, the oats deliver the body and a deceptively easy-sipper that Dogfish Head’s founder and brewer Sam Calagione said drinks more like a “5% ABV session sipper” than the strong 7.1% ABV this beer ended up at. “[The] foundation-of-four oat formats creates a target, allowing the beer’s bright and juicy hops to hit the flavorful bullseye,” said Calagione. 

Hellooo Hazy-O! Our latest #offcentered innovation is now available coast-to-coast! A hazy IPA brewed with 4 types of oats & plenty of hops, Hazy-O! boasts flavors of tropical citrus & a silky soft mouthfeel thanks to a hearty dose of oat milk! Learn more: https://t.co/uJUx0oNYH9 pic.twitter.com/OXUVwGkqTM

— Dogfish Head Brewery (@dogfishbeer) February 1, 2021

Hazy-O! Isn’t the first hazy IPA Dogfish Head has released nationally but it might be their most creative. Calagione noted that the inspiration for an oat milk-forward IPA came from his experience in coffee culture, where baristas masterfully use milk and creamer to elevate lattes and create striking coffee art. Adding to both its style and substance, Calagione is confident that Hazy-O! will appeal to their core audience, hazy IPA fanatics and even those drinkers seeking a vegan or lactose-free beer. 

“In terms of national innovations, Hazy-O! is a huge priority, and as our distributors and retailers are now getting to try the first batch arriving in the market, it’s already creating a lot of excitement,” he said.

Hazy-O! is available nationwide in 6-packs of 12oz cans. If you’re interested in tracking down this new haze creation in your local market, you can check out Dogfish Head’s Fish Finder. Cheers! 

Feature image courtesy of Dogfish Head Brewery.

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