Ghostfish Brewing It Came From The Haze – Hazy IPA

Ghostfish Brewing It Came From The Haze – Hazy IPA

Series Release Hazy IPA

Tonight we taste the Ghostfish Brewing ‘It Came From The Haze’ Hazy IPA. I don’t know if you can relate to this locally, but people in Oregon are going crazy for the haze. It’s become a very popular style, particularly in my town. Bend’s beer drinking population is very IPA-obsessed. In that way, I fit right in!

I’ll give you an example. We have constant festivals in this town (pre-COVID). There doesn’t seem to be a weekend in which Bend is not producing an excuse to drink beer and walk around outside.  (I’m not complaining.) Fall Fest. Winter Fest. Summer Fest. Brew Fest. Bite of Bend (food) Fest. OktoberFest. Ale Fest. etc…I usually bartend at these events when they come around, and the IPAs outsell everything by FAR, every time.

This is a series release…

This means that every so often Ghostfish drops a new version of the It Came From The Haze, so this review will expand as time passes to show its stages of evolution. This post contains reviews and recordings of the 2019, 2020, and (2x) 2021 release.

Let’s get on to the review, shall we? Here’s the pour…scroll past the pour to see photos of the hazy and my thoughts about the tasting experience. :) Keep scrolling and you’ll get to the older releases and their pours.

Spring 2021 Taste Test

It Came From The Haze #7

It Came From The Haze – Hazy IPA was brewed again in May of 2021 and this time it was brewed on millet, rice, quinoa, and buckwheat. It features 4 varieties of hops including Idaho 7, NZ Green Bullet, Belma Hop Hash, and Chinook hops. It has a 33 IBU and a 6% ABV.

Ghostfish Brewing’s Spring 2021 release of the It Came From The Haze pours as hazy as ever and with an enormous head that takes its sweet time. When it does bubble down, it leaves behind a topper for texture. This gluten free Hazy IPA has a muted yellow color, giving it a very juicy appearance.

The aroma is heavy in citrus. So heavy, in fact, that I can’t smell much else at the moment. The taste however, is soaked in resign and pine forest. What an epic combination of PNW hop character. This beer has it all. 

Its bitterness is mild to moderate and is pretty smooth if you ask me. The carbonation is perfect and the texture has a crisp thirst-quenching quality to it. The body is medium-light…closer to the light side. Lets talk through the tasting experience step-by-step…

First sip presents with a crisp bite of carbonation and a dryness that screams hops. This texture is followed by a mouthful of pine and a pretty dank flavor that also springboards back into the aroma. It finishes as it starts, dry and hoppy. 

Somehow this It Came From The Haze manages to quench your thirst and wet your palate at the same time. Sweetness is never a factor in this Hazy IPA. It’s delightfully dry, crisp, FULL of flavor, and a powerful aroma that you can catch from across the room. 

I can say with confidence that this is my favorite release yet of Ghostfish’s It Came From The Haze. It is DELICIOUS and saturated in PNW vibes. Go out and snag some if you have access to it. You won’t be disappointed! 

Winter 2021 Taste Test

It Came From The Haze #6

The 2021 release of It Came From The Haze Hazy IPA is brewed on a base of millet, rice, quinoa, and buckwheat. It utilizes several hop varieties, including NZ Southern Cross, Amarillo, Eukanot, and Denali hops.

This version of the It Came From The Haze pours with a muted pollen yellow color and a super mild head. That bubbles away quite quickly and the remaining carbonation is hidden behind its substantial haze.

The aroma is very mellow for me, both in malt and in hop. The first taste reveals the flavor is packed full of hops though. The combination of the 4 hop varieties used has created a very unique tasting profile in this hazy IPA.

When the beer first hits your lips, you’re met with a bright and clean texture that transforms into a herbal bouquet of hops. This medium-bodied gluten free Hazy IPA finishes very dry, and leaves lots of texture behind. 

It seems the hops provide a fair amount of mouthfeel actually. There’s a floral quality that seems to coat the palate. The bitterness is moderate, but the dryness makes it seem slightly more bitter than the 28 IBU suggests.

This release of It Came From The Haze is certainly packed with flavor and I think Ghostfish did a good job at brewing a very fresh flavor profile for this series offering. 

If you got your hands on this late winter Hazy IPA, how did it stack up to it’s predecessor in your opinion? I’d be super curious to hear from someone who has tasted EVERY single one of the It Came From The Haze Hazy IPA releases. 

It’s also worth noting how much I love the label for this newest addition. It’s gorgeous…props to the artist!

2020 Taste Test

It Came From The Haze #5

The #5 is brewed on a base of millet, rice, and buckwheat and it contains what can only be described as a F*** TON of hops. Mosaic, Chinook, Trident, Sultana, Exp. 09326, Huell Melon, Cashmere, Ahtanum, Citra, Loral, and Sabro hops. YEP.

The 5th batch of It Came From The Haze pours with a lemon yellow color and the head…Well, I poured it twice in two different glasses. The first poured with a cider-like head that vanished before I could take a photo (see below), and the second poured with a more beer-like head, which you can see in the video above. It is extremely hazy, and I can smell the hops from several feet away!

The aroma is packed with tropical citrus fruit and forest, and its juiciness is impossible to ignore as it wafts across the kitchen. The visual presentation at the top of the glass appears a bit flat, but I’d be willing to bet that carbonation is hiding out in that haze. ;)

My first thought when the Hazy IPA touches my lips is “Holy Dryness Batman!”. There is not a single ounce of sweetness to this hazy brew. While the aroma is packed with fruit, I find the flavor to be filled with resigny pine! The taste reveals a mild but sufficient carbonation level as well. 

When the It Came From The Haze Hazy IPA touches your lips, you first register texture, partly from the carbonation and partly from the dryness. That texture transform into a bright and earthy light-bodied IPA that moves through the palate and finishes with some dry hoppy bitterness on the furthest back taste buds. After swallow, a moderate bitterness lingers on the palate and throat. 

This Hazy IPA is crisp and refreshing. The dryness is bold, but the bitterness is moderate and the flavor is strong enough for it not to completely dry out your mouth as you drink. This batch has a 48 IBU and a 6% ABV.

I think the #5 is certainly a great addition to the It Came From The Haze series and I would love to know how many of you have tasted it…(comment below if you have!) Following is a review for one of the older releases.

2019 The Taste Test

It Came From The Haze Hazy IPA #1

The ‘It Came From The Haze’ Hazy IPA a 5.5% ABV 60 IBU hazy that rocks a beautiful matte label of pine forest saturated in fog. Ghostfish packaged it in 16 ounce cans and those cans were distributed to Bend! (Lucky me, I know.)

This beer pours a beautiful sunset orange. Hazy indeed. Light seeps through, maybe some faint shapes, but pretty obscure overall. Its head was short, but a ring of bubbles hug the glass as it fades. The aroma is packed with fruit, lots of citrus and other tropical notes.

If you care to see the pour with your own eyes, check out the sped up version on Instagram @glutenfreebeers, or become a Best Gluten Free Beers patron (pint-size and up!) to watch the full pour in real time with sound.

It Came From The Haze has a juicy and robust flavor. The taste is packed with dry fruitiness and pine-like qualities. It reminds me of fir trees. The hop profile shines through proudly with a strong–yet gentle bitterness.

The hops used in this Hazy IPA include New Zealand’s Motueka (tropical, citrus aroma), Eureka (flavors of citrus, resin, tropical and dark fruit), and Cryo Mosaic hops (Berry, Herbal, Tropical, Citrus, Pine). I’ve noticed lately that Ghostfish doesn’t print their full ingredient lists on their limited release cans.

I have to admit, I think this is a dream team of a hop combo for me. With all 3 hop varieties offering heavy fruit notes, with the addition of the pine character, it really permeates the beer with all my favorite things in a PNW IPA–without any sweetness whatsoever.

Its dryness presents an after-mouthfeel similar to that of grapefruit juice or a very dry red wine. I’d say anyone partial to Hazy IPAs would appreciate this beer, gluten free or not. It’s very refreshing and oh-so interesting from a flavor/aroma perspective.

Honestly, my main complaint about this beer is that it’s a limited release, therefore I can’t drink this dry juice bomb year-round. BUT… (Yep, there’s a giant BUT there.) You’ll be happy to learn that this Hazy IPA is just the first in a series of ever-changing Hazy IPAs from Ghostfish Brewing Company.

The recipe will evolve with each brew, so you could categorize this as the first in an experimental Haze series. I can’t wait to see what the next one is like. But I got to say, they kicked off the project right with this one, so I recommend you get your hands on some if possible. You won’t be sorry.

Cheers!

P.S. Like what I do for the gluten free beer community? Consider buying me a beer for my efforts! ;)