Beer of the Week: Hibiscus Haze

Things work a little differently at Fox Point Farms’ onsite brewing operation, Fox Point Brewing. For starters, Head Brewer Brian Carl was able to completely design his production facility and has free reign to brew whatever he likes, privileges typically reserved for brewery owners. Additionally, the beer travels through a lengthy underground network of pipes to bar taps at Fox Point’s onsite restaurant and market, and a number of those ales and lagers are infused with produce grown across the “agrihood”. It’s far from the standard and so is this week’s featured beer, Hibiscus Haze, which is billed as a hazy IPA despite landing outside several style parameters. According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, an organization whose style guidelines are utilized by the world’s most prestigious professional brewing competitions, a hazy IPA should be between 6% and 9% alcohol-by-volume. Hibiscus Haze is just 5.7%, putting it more in a pale-ale range. So it’s a hazy pale ale, right? Not so fast! Upon pouring the beer into a branded plastic cup (it’s OK, beer purist…this non-glass receptacle is ideal for a family-friendly outdoor venue where children are running to and fro) one is challenged to find very much of the haze or opaqueness BJCP calls for. It’s unfiltered and, from the taste of the beer, there’s wheat in it, but it really comes across as a wheat ale. So it’s a hoppy wheat ale? Well, it’s not that hoppy – at least in the bitter or piney sense. Rather, it’s rife with nice peachy notes that dovetail beautifully with the earthy, floral nature of the hibiscus to make what is a delicious beer that’s soft on the palate and downright craveable. No matter what they’re calling this beer or what it really is, it’s tasty and well-suited for enjoyment al fresco at this brewery’s unique coastal environs. Order it, shut off the critical part of your mind, chill and savor sans judgment.

Having never brewed a hazy IPA before, I reached out to our great San Diego brewing community for help. I asked, ‘How do I brew a hazy IPA?’ and ‘How do I make a hazy IPA unique?’ I’d like to send out many thanks for all of the recommendations and support I received with the first question. To solve the second one, I took a walk around the farm and found blue and red hibiscus, which I steeped in hot water to make a tea. From there, I added the hibiscus tea to the whirlpool. Hibiscus Haze was born, and now it’s available year-round at Fox Point Farms.”

Brian Carl, Head Brewer, Fox Point Brewing

Fox Point Brewing is located inside Fox Point Farms at 1150 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas