Amped up, double dosed, sky high, revved the engine, sent to the moon, double the trouble, imperial or double hazies send us places we can sometimes only dream about.
For double hazies, breweries often simply riff on an already-established hazy, doubling, sometimes tripling up on the hops and yet finding mysterious ways to keep the IBUs low for a beer that finds a mystifying equilibrium between malt backbone and hop juiciness and dankness.
Double hazies often resemble magic tricks or sci-fi films, taking us to worlds we’ve never seen before.
We started this series on the “Best Beers Available in Most Stores Right Now” several years ago with our piece on The 11 Best Hazy IPAs Available in Most Stores Right Now. But we held off on the follow-up because, at the time, we actually couldn’t find too many double hazies on the national stage.
Now, these heavy hop hitters aren’t too far out of reach. Almost all of your big regional breweries make excellent double hazies that you can find all over the country. And even some cool kids on the block have upped their shipping game enough to send their five-star-rated versions to states east, west, and everywhere in between.
My, times have changed. For the better, we think, right?
Hop Culture’s Picks for the 11 Best Double Hazies Available in Most Stores Right Now
Brooklyn Brewery Pulp Art Hazy Double IPA
Brooklyn Brewery calls its first widely distributed New England-style IPA, Pulp Art, “a hazy IPA for the people.” Debuting in 2021, this standard hazy got an upgrade a year later with Pulp Art Hazy Double IPA.
“It’s a supersaturated version of the original modern masterpiece, strikingly familiar, yet with a new take on the tropical notes and soft finish,” Brooklyn Brewery wrote in a press release.
Named after the iconic Pop Art movement, this beer goes for big, bold flavors. Featuring hops such as Citra, Sultana, and Sabro, Pulp Art Hazy Double IPA splashes across the palate with notes of pineapple, passion fruit, and papaya.
“The Double Pulp Art brings more of what we all loved about our original Pulp Art, bigger bolder flavors, juicier aromas, a rounder palate and bracing bitterness to balance it all out,” describes Brewmaster Garrett Oliver in the press release. “Its flavors range towards the tropicality of pineapple and stone fruit flavors, especially peach and apricot. The combination of the hops with our special yeast strain produces rich aromatics and depth.”
Today, Brooklyn Brewery distributes in thirty states including AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, and VT, and over twenty countries. To find a Brooklyn Brewery Pulp Art Hazy Double IPA near you, use the Brooklyn Brewery Beer Finder. Alternatively, Brooklyn Brewery delivers this beer through Minibar.
Deschutes Haze Tron Imperial IPA
While Fresh Squeeze IPA is a paradigm of the American IPA, Haze Tron Imperial IPA hits all the right notes for double hazies. With a robust base of two-row, malted oats, and unmalted wheat, Deschutes’ big hazy gets hit with Simcoe Cryo, HBC 630, and Chinook.
What started as just a March release has become a year-round staple for the Oregon-based brewery.
The beautiful balance of modern and experimental hops creates a beer that is both timeless and time-traveling, a nod to the past and a glance to the future. Deschutes points to biotransformation as the key to producing exploding flavors of juicy tropical fruit with a touch of pine needle that ironically drinks super smooth.
You can also expect big notes of pineapple juice and lemon Jolly Rancher.
You can find this imperial hazy in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia. Internationally, Deschutes also exports to British Columbia and Alberta and countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Spain, Italy, France, and Sweden.
Use the Deschutes Brewery Beer Finder to get this beer into your beer fridge. Alternatively, you can find this beer on Instacart, too.
Firestone Walker Brain Melter
The brewery that brought you the uber classic Union Jack and new wave Mind Haze recently announced two new additions to the latter line.
Mind Haze Brain Melter and Mind Haze Cosmic Crusher take the foundation of Mind Haze, the brewery’s most successful beer, and amp up the juice, the haze, and the ABV.
“Brain Melter is a beer that doubles down on everything we love about Mind Haze–mouth-watering tropical flavors with a bit more octane to give it an extra punch,” says Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson, noting the team tested twelve to sixteen different hop blends, settling on the one they liked best—Vic Secret, Strata, and Citra hops. All added with double the average amount and a nice little double dry hop.
“It was ultra-tropical and expressive with a pleasing roundness. There’s a seamless connection between the smooth, malt-derived texture and the juicy hop character,” Brynildson says.
“We didn’t mess with any mood-altering chemicals,” Brynildson assures jokingly. Instead, Firestone took everything they love about Mind Haze and doubled down for a high-octane pulse-pounding punch.
Brewing with a grist bill similar to Double Mind Haze (the imperial version), Brain Melter includes two-row malt, white wheat, torrified wheat, Blonde RoastOat Malt, and malted oats.
Where does the mood really start to change? With the hops, specifically dry hopping.
“We’re not one of these breweries that are approaching ten-plus pounds per barrel,” says Brynildson, “[But] I feel like every time we go there, we end up with a little more hops than the iteration before.”
In this case, the three to three-and-a-half pounds per barrel range. “Which for us is pretty mean,” he says.
You get a beer “more tropical even than Double Mind Haze,” says Brynildson.
Still at an amazingly low forty IBUs but reasonably high 8.5% ABV, Brain Melter integrates that higher alcohol with a somewhat creamy mouthfeel, according to Brynildson.
Lots of bright pineapple, mango, and guava from the Vic Secret gives Brain Melter “this nice big, juicy, round characteristic,” says Brynildson. “While Citra [brings] everything between grapefruit and just catty enough to make it interesting.”
And a kiss of Strata Brynildson likens to almost a final seasoning spice.
“I’m excited about [Brain Melter] in many ways,” he says. “I saw it as a rebirth.”
For double hazies, Brain Melter is a tastebud-melting one found in thirty-three states. Use Firestone Walker’s Beer Finder to track down Brain Melter near you.
New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force
In 2017, this pioneering brewery relaunched its core portfolio, introducing Voodoo Ranger as one of its flagships.
Voodoo Ranger represents a series of IPAs “brewed with trendsetting hop and malt varieties—and served with a side of sarcasm,” according to New Belgium.
Kicking off with the release of two beers, Voodoo Ranger IPA and Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (the number one IPA in America that sells in glass bottles!), and followed closely by Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA, New Belgium brewed up incredibly delicious IPA potions.
Voodoo Ranger Juice Force continues that legacy. And then some. New Belgium cautions you to “buckle up” because Juice Force will blast you away with fruit bombs at a highly drinkable 9.5% ABV. Seems like an oxymoron, but it’s not. As New Belgium says, “You’ll be buzzing the tower in no time.”
Look for Voodoo Ranger Juice Force across New Belgium’s distribution in all fifty states plus Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and Norway. The best thing to do is to use New Belgium’s Beer Finder to scout out a Voodoo Ranger near you.
Night Shift 87
It’s telling that Night Shift named its humongously hopped hazy double IPA after the address of its flagship Everett brewery—87 Santilli Hwy. It’s almost like the reverse of naming a street after someone. In this case, Night Shift felt strongly enough about this double hazy to name a beer after its street address!
Accordingly, the Massachusetts-based brewery considers this imperial hazy its “house DIPA.”
Pouring like a lovely summer sunset, 87 beautifully balances malt sweetness, hop bitterness, and candied citrus sweetness.
You can find this juicy double hazy across Night Shift’s twelve-state distribution footprint, including CT, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, and DC. Find the closest 87 double hazy to you on the brewery’s Where To Buy page.
Oskar Blues Imperial Hazy Blues
Two years ago, Oskar Blues released Hazy Blues, “a hopped-up, hazed-out homage to rowdy juke joins and jumping jive roadhouses,” Oskar Blues wrote in a press release, meant to combine the brewery’s love of harmony and hops.
The approach harkens back to Oskar Blues’ foundation, a brewery inside a Cajun-inspired restaurant and Blues venue in Lyons, CO.
“Getting down to a funky jam while crushing a well-crafted beer at the end of a work week—that’s the vibe we grew out of,” said Oskar Blues Senior Marketing Manager Aaron Baker in that press release. “Foggy stages, clinking glassware, moving feet—Hazy Blues Juicy IPA is the beer for those times. It’s hopped-up and juicy enough to keep both the band and the crowd stoked.”
Imperial Hazy Blues goes just one two-step further, amping up the velocity.
“Big notes of tropical fruit blasting out of the DOUBLE stacks in the back,” writes Oskar Blues in the beer’s Untappd description. “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.”
We think that says it all. Did you hear us? We said, “WE THINK THAT SAYS IT ALL!”
You can get your hands on this imperial hazy across Oskar Blues’ entire footprint, which includes all fifty states and over twenty countries. Check out Oskar Blues’ Beer Finder to find an Imperial Hazy Blues near you.
Other Half All Citra Everything
This beer just smashes. The single-hop double hazy is, as its name implies, all about the Citra. Double dry hopped with an extra dose of Citra lupulin powder just for S&G, right?
Lucky for many of us, Other Half currently ships to fifteen states, including CT, FL, GA, KY, MA, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, VA, and VT, and DC.
Or, you can just get the beer in the Untappd Shop right now!
Parish Brewing DDH Ghost in the Machine
Parish has been dropping diamonds all year, riffing off its revered Ghost in the Machine with a host of collabs to celebrate the beer’s tenth anniversary. The year-long party has included beers like the MC^Ghost (w. Equilibrium), Ripe in the Machine (w. Great Notion), Baby Ghost, and more.
But we’ll admit, we’re a sucker for a vintage. DDH Ghost in the Machine is scary good. In the kind of way a scary movie like Scream has become a cult classic. You can’t help but watch it over and over again.
Based on the OG Ghost in the Machine recipe, DDH Ghost in the Machine doubles the hops used, equaling a dry-hop rate of over eight pounds of Citra per barrel.
At 8% ABV and with that massive mound of hops, DDH Ghost in the Machine “will dominate your senses,” according to Parish.
Certainly blew our minds (and taste buds).
Parish distributes mainly in the Southeast, including AL, FL, LA, MS, and TX. However, through shop.parishbeer.com, Parish also ships to eight states, including AK, KY, ND, NE, NH, OH, OR, and VT, and DC.
Sixpoint Anti-Resin
Sixpoint’s Anti-Resin is a statement. Started by the brewery as the antithesis to bitter beers, a reminder of that first sip of hazy that changed the game forever, Anti-Resin is “pure hop candy,” according to Sixpoint.
But if you know Sixpoint, this all tracks. Started by Shane Welch in the gritty Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2004, Sixpoint has always been a step ahead.
Welch packed in 16-oz cans as far back as 2010 when aluminum was still a twinkle in many brewers’ eyes. And in 2017, beers like Anti-Resin showed muscle but also heart in a still-growing New York City scene.
For that reason, in 2019, we named Sixpoint one of The Best Canned, Hazy IPAs in Brooklyn.
And we stand by that today. As far as double hazies go, Anti-Resin sticks its neck out and has for quite a while.
Thankfully, in 2018, Sixpoint joined Artisanal Brewing Ventures, a group that includes Victory Brewing and Southern Tier Brewing, gaining access to its distribution footprint and even expanding into the U.K. Find Sixpoint beers in the following markets: CT, FL, GA, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, and WI. To grab a Sixpoint Anti-Resin near you, check out Sixpoint’s Beer Finder.
Southern Tier 2XHAZE
For years, Southern Tier’s 2XIPA gained a cult-like acclaim. In 2022, the brewery finally decided to “double down” on the 2X glory, releasing a slew of beers under a platform called “The 2X Factor.”
“Our goal has been the same since we built our first production facility and taproom in 2002—we want to bring big flavor and unique styles to anyone looking for a great beverage,” said Founder Phin DeMink in a press release. “Our door is always open, and we want folks to know if you’re up for something really, really special, whether it’s an extreme Double IPA, a unique Pumpkin beer, or even Smoked Bourbon or Cinnamon Candy Apple Whiskey, we are going to put in the extra work and sweat in R&D and operations to make those available. That’s what drives us, and that’s the 2X factor.”
Leading the charge of those beers, 2XHAZE, an 8.2% ABV double hazy juicy IPA bursting with vibrant tropical flavors.
To achieve two times the juiciness, Southern Tier actually adds three times the Citra and Mosaic hops over an extended four-day dry hop.
What you get is an imperial-style hazy that beguilingly only hits twenty IBUs.
Southern Tier’s 2XHAZE is the newest beer in the 2X Factor series. As far as double hazies go, this one pours a hazy golden orange with a soft body and booms with tropical flavor. This double IPA is smooth and beguiling.
You can get your hands on this hazy DIPA across Southern Tier’s entire footprint, which includes more than thirty states. Check out Southern Tier’s Beer Finder to find a 2XHAZE near you. You can also find Southern Tier beers on Instacart and GoPuff.
SweetWater H.A.Z.Y Double IPA
Another example of doubling down, SweetWater H.A.Z.Y Double IPA takes the brewery’s H.A.Z.Y. and ramps up the dankess, bruh. The double dry-hopped double hazy starts with a creamy base of wheat and oats before getting an extreme dose of tongue-ripping Strata, El Dorado, and Sultana hops.
At 8.5% ABV and 47 IBUs, H.A.Z.Y. Double IPA punches your cheeks with mango, clementine, guava, pineapple, and passion fruit.
You can get your hands on this hazy DIPA from SweetWater’s over 50,000 distribution points across forty-four states. Additionally, SweetWater beers are available on online retailers such as Instacart and Gopuff. But perhaps best of all, you can find SweetWater’s core beers at major retailers such as Costco, Lee’s Liquor, Walmart, Safeway, and Whole Foods Market. Check out SweetWater’s Beer Finder to find a Hazy Double IPA near you.
