Breakside Brewery launched a permanent West Coast IPA built on Mosaic, Strata and Krush hops, leaning tropical and stonefruit rather than the aggressive pine-and-bitterness West Coast IPAs were once known for. It’s now in 12oz six-packs and on draft at all Breakside locations. That shift toward cleaner, more aromatic West Coast IPAs is exactly what put beers like our Stone IPA review on the map; see the full field in our best IPAs guide.
West Coast IPA and hazy IPA have spent the last decade pulling in opposite directions. The original West Coast style, which built its reputation on beers like Stone IPA and Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, leans on clean, dry fermentation and a big, resinous bitterness from hops like Simcoe and Columbus. Hazy IPA flipped that formula: soft mouthfeel, minimal bitterness, and a cloudy appearance from unfiltered proteins and hop oils, built around tropical, juice-forward hops like Citra and Galaxy. For a while, hazy dominated new releases almost entirely.
Breakside’s new beer is part of a real shift back toward West Coast IPA, but a version updated for drinkers who came up during the hazy era. Mosaic, Strata and Krush hops all lean tropical and stonefruit rather than the classic pine-and-grapefruit profile of the original West Coast style, so the beer keeps the clean, dry, more bitter backbone of a true West Coast IPA while still delivering the fruit-forward aroma drinkers have gotten used to over the last several years.
Breakside Brewery, based in Portland, Oregon, has built a reputation on hop-forward beers generally and has been part of the Pacific Northwest’s ongoing West Coast IPA revival alongside other regional names. Making the beer a permanent, year-round release rather than a seasonal or limited drop signals the brewery expects sustained demand rather than treating it as a passing trend.
If you want to taste how far the West Coast style has traveled, our Stone IPA review is a good baseline for the classic, more aggressive version, while the full field of current standouts, hazy and West Coast alike, is ranked in our best IPAs guide.
Portland’s IPA scene has quietly stayed one of the most influential in the country even as hazy IPA dominated headlines nationally, with breweries there continuing to refine both styles rather than abandoning West Coast IPA entirely. Breakside making this a permanent release, rather than a one-off nostalgia play, suggests the brewery sees real, sustained demand for an updated West Coast IPA rather than treating it as a throwback marketing exercise.
West Coast IPA’s resurgence is also showing up on tap lists and store shelves more broadly this year, not just at Breakside, suggesting brewers nationally are responding to the same drinker fatigue with extremely soft, low-bitterness hazy IPAs that helped drive this shift back toward a clearer, more bitter style.
Hop breeding programs themselves have played a quiet but significant role in this stylistic shift, with newer varieties like Strata and Krush specifically developed to deliver bigger tropical aroma without some of the harsher vegetal notes older hop varieties could produce at high dose rates. That breeding progress has made it easier for brewers to build a beer like Breakside’s that keeps a clean, bitter West Coast backbone while still layering in the kind of fruit-forward aroma drinkers have come to expect after years of hazy IPA dominance.
West Coast IPA’s comeback has also been helped along by simple drinker fatigue with extremely soft, murky hazy IPAs that some longtime craft drinkers felt had drifted too far from actual hop bitterness altogether; Breakside’s new release, and others like it, is as much a response to that fatigue as it is a nostalgia play for the original style.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes an IPA “West Coast style” specifically?
Clean, dry fermentation, a clear (not hazy) appearance, and a bigger, more resinous bitterness than a hazy IPA, usually built on classic hop varieties like Simcoe, Columbus or Centennial.
What’s the real difference between West Coast and hazy IPA?
West Coast IPA is clear, dry and more bitter; hazy IPA is cloudy, soft and low-bitterness with a juicier, more tropical hop character. They’re built from different fermentation and hopping techniques, not just different hop varieties.
What hops are in Breakside’s new IPA?
Mosaic, Strata and Krush, three varieties known for tropical fruit and stonefruit character rather than the classic pine-and-citrus profile of older West Coast IPAs.
Is Breakside’s West Coast IPA available nationwide?
It’s launching in 12oz six-packs and on draft at Breakside’s own locations, with broader distribution depending on the brewery’s existing regional footprint in the Pacific Northwest.
What other breweries are known for West Coast IPA?
Stone, Russian River, Ballast Point and Lagunitas are among the names most associated with defining and popularizing the original West Coast IPA style over the past two decades.
Are hazy IPAs going away because of this shift?
No, hazy IPA remains one of the best-selling styles nationally; this is more a sign of West Coast IPA carving back some shelf space and drinker attention rather than hazy IPA disappearing from the category.
Source: The Beer Connoisseur →
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We tasted Breakside West Coast IPA ourselves: read our full review of the new Breakside West Coast IPA, and see how it stacks up in our full ranking of the best IPAs.
