I keep a running list of hazy IPAs that punch above their zip code, and Highlander Beer’s Strange Haze earned a spot on it the first time a buddy brought a six-pack back from a fishing trip near Missoula. This is a Montana brewery that has been quietly building a strong regional lineup, and Strange Haze is the one that shows up on tap and in cans across Montana and Idaho year-round, not just as a seasonal one-off. At 7.4% ABV it drinks stronger than most of the
hazy IPAs I review, but the hop bill keeps the whole thing soft and juicy instead of hot or harsh.
Highlander Strange Haze IPA at a glance
| Style | Hazy / New England IPA |
| ABV | 7.4% |
| IBU | 45 (official brewery figure) |
| Calories | Not published by the brewery; expect roughly 220-240 per 12 fl oz for a beer at this ABV and body, an estimate, not an official number |
| Brewery | Highlander Beer, Missoula, Montana (second location in Salmon, Idaho) |
| Hops | Late additions of Mosaic and Zythos |
| Availability | Year round across Montana and Idaho, 12 oz cans and 6-pack endos |
| Community rating | 3.74 out of 5 |
| Best served | Cold, poured into a pint or tulip glass to let the haze and aroma show |
Highlander Beer: brewery background
Highlander Beer traces its roots back to a Missoula brewing tradition that goes back to 1910, a history the current team leans into on packaging and branding while running a thoroughly modern operation. The brewery’s main home is a taproom and outdoor pavilion on Grant Creek in Missoula, Montana, with picnic tables, live music, and wood-fired pizza alongside the beer list. A second location opened more recently at 601 Main St in Salmon, Idaho, which is why Strange Haze cans now carry both cities on the label instead of just one.
The Missoula taproom pours a rotating lineup that leans into the outdoor-Montana identity: think river names, mountain references, and can art built for a truck bed or a raft cooler. Strange Haze sits alongside beers like Pocket Cowboy, Strawberry Wheat, and Huckleberry Wheat in the year-round lineup, and it is the brewery’s answer to the national hazy IPA boom without chasing the extreme fruited or pastry-adjacent versions some breweries have gone with.
ABV, IBU and what is actually in the can
Highlander lists Strange Haze at 7.4% ABV and 45
IBU on its own site, both official brewery numbers rather than a third-party estimate. That 45 IBU figure is worth noting because a lot of hazy IPAs advertise their bitterness lower just to sound more drinkable; Highlander is upfront that Strange Haze carries a real, if soft-landing, bitterness under the juice.The hop bill is simple and specific: late additions of Mosaic and Zythos. Mosaic is the workhorse behind a lot of modern hazy IPAs, responsible for the blueberry, mango, and pine-resin complexity you get in beers like
Pulp Truck IPA and plenty of others on my hazy IPA shelf. Zythos is a hop blend rather than a single varietal, built to mimic a citrus-and-tropical profile, and it is what pushes Strange Haze toward pineapple and orange rather than a heavier dank note. Highlander does not publish a full malt bill or an official calorie count for Strange Haze, so I am not going to invent one. Based on the ABV and body, expect it to land in the same rough calorie range as other year-round hazy IPAs in the 7-7.5% band, but treat that as an estimate, not a spec.
How Strange Haze tastes
This pours a hazy, pale gold, closer to orange juice than to a clear pale ale, with a soft off-white head that holds for a couple of minutes before settling into a thin cap. The nose is straight tropical fruit: pineapple and mango up front, a streak of orange peel underneath, and just enough of a resinous edge from the Mosaic to remind you it is still an IPA and not a fruited seltzer.
On the palate, the body is light for a 7.4% beer, which is the point of the style: Highlander is not trying to make a hazy double IPA here, just a full-strength hazy that still drinks easy. The bitterness Highlander advertises at 45 IBU is there, but it sits in the back of the sip rather than up front, more of a dry finish than a bite. Malt sweetness stays low, so nothing about this reads as sticky or juice-box sweet, which keeps a second can appealing even though the ABV is higher than a typical session hazy. It reminds me a little of
Thunderbird, another hazy double IPA-adjacent beer built around a similarly light body at a similar strength, though Strange Haze pulls back the intensity a notch to stay more sessionable.If you have had
Bodhizafa or other West Coast-leaning hazy IPAs, Strange Haze reads a bit softer and less resinous, more in line with the East Coast juice-bomb style, just built by a Rocky Mountain brewery instead of a New England one.“Late additions of Mosaic and Zythos hops showcasing the pineapple, tropical fruit and citrus hop character from these varieties. The body is light, bitterness is low, but the hop flavor and aroma are definitely prominent.”, Highlander Beer, official tasting notes
Food pairing
Strange Haze’s tropical fruit and moderate bitterness make it a solid partner for grilled and smoked food, which is exactly what Highlander’s own Missoula taproom serves alongside it. I would reach for it with:
- Wood-fired pizza with a spicy sausage or pineapple topping, which mirrors the beer’s own fruit character
- Smoked or grilled chicken with a citrus marinade
- Fish tacos with a mango or pineapple salsa
- A sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese board
- Grilled shrimp skewers with a light glaze
For a deeper dive into matching hop character to smoke and char, my
beer and BBQ pairing guide covers more combinations, and Strange Haze would fit right into a cooler for a tailgate; see my best beers for tailgating list for company it would keep well.How Strange Haze compares to other hazy IPAs
Strange Haze sits in an interesting spot on the hazy IPA spectrum: stronger than a session hazy, but built to drink lighter than its ABV suggests. Against
Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing, which is the beer most people use as their hazy IPA benchmark, Strange Haze is both stronger (7.4% versus 6.7%) and more bitter on paper (45 IBU versus 35), but the two share that same soft, juicy, low-malt-sweetness approach that makes both easy to drink more than one of in a sitting.If you want to stay in Montana, Highlander’s neighbor
KettleHouse’s Cold Smoke is a completely different style, a Scotch ale rather than an IPA, but it is worth knowing both beers come out of the same small but ambitious Montana craft beer scene. For something closer in profile, Pulp Truck IPA shares the Mosaic-driven tropical fruit character, just from a different region entirely. And if you liked the full round-up format, my best hazy IPAs list has more beers in this same juicy, easy-drinking lane.- Real tropical fruit character from Mosaic and Zythos, not a vague generic hop nose
- Official 45 IBU is honestly stated rather than downplayed for marketing
- Light body keeps a 7.4% beer from feeling heavy
- Available year round, not a limited release you have to chase
- Not widely distributed outside Montana and Idaho
- No official calorie count published
- Slightly higher ABV than some drinkers want from a hazy IPA session beer
Where to buy Strange Haze
Strange Haze is a regional beer, sold on tap and in 6-pack cans across Montana and Idaho rather than nationwide, and it is not currently listed on Saucey for delivery. If you are outside that footprint, here are five hazy IPAs in a similar strength and flavor lane that you can actually get delivered right now.
FAQs
What is the ABV of Highlander Strange Haze?
Strange Haze is 7.4% ABV, an official figure from Highlander Beer’s own site, not a third-party estimate.
What is the IBU of Strange Haze?
Highlander lists Strange Haze at 45 IBU. It drinks softer than that number suggests because the bitterness sits behind a wave of tropical hop fruit rather than upfront.
What hops are in Strange Haze?
Highlander uses late additions of Mosaic and Zythos, which is where the pineapple, tropical fruit, and citrus character comes from.
Where can I buy Highlander Strange Haze?
Strange Haze is sold year round on tap and in 6-pack cans across Montana and Idaho. It is a regional release and is not currently listed on national delivery platforms like Saucey.
Is Strange Haze a session beer?
Not really. At 7.4% ABV it is stronger than most session hazy IPAs, though the light body and low malt sweetness make it drink easier than the ABV suggests.
Where is Highlander Beer located?
Highlander Beer is based in Missoula, Montana, with a taproom and outdoor pavilion on Grant Creek, plus a second location in Salmon, Idaho.
