Some beers you remember because they were great. Others you remember because of where you were when you had them.
My first real memory of Narrow Gauge‘s OJ Run goes back to 2016, when it was already bubbling up as one of those beers people kept whispering about. But the moment it went from local favorite to something else entirely came that October, when OJ Run poured at Zwanze Day at Side Project.
“Side Project asked us to have a keg at Zwanze Day,” Jeff Hardesty told me. “Honestly when we had a keg of it poured at Zwanze Day at Side Project in 2016. I think it was the first keg to kick that day, which absolutely blew my mind.”
In a room like that, first to kick tells you plenty.
The backstory
OJ Run was born in 2016, during the early days of St. Louis’ hazy IPA awakening. Hardesty was already deep in experimentation, trying to understand a style that didn’t yet come with a clear roadmap.
“At the time, which was 2016, I developed the recipe for OJ Run and it was heavily inspired by Juice Machine from Tree House,” Hardesty said. “There was not a ton of information available, but there were some speculations of the hops used and I tried to incorporate those along with our brewing techniques and choice of malt and yeast.”
That lack of information was part of the appeal. This was still the era of trading screenshots and whispered hop bills, not detailed brewery blog posts and yeast strain breakdowns. OJ Run came together through trial, error and instinct. Once it landed, it stayed.
The name everyone gets wrong
If you’ve spent any time around OJ Run, you’ve heard the assumptions. Orange juice. OJ Simpson. Citrus gimmick.
None of that is true.
“The name is a nod to Old Jamestown Road in unincorporated Florissant,” Jeff Hardesty said. “Many people assume the name means something else, but it was or is a term used by locals in Florissant.”
The name came together casually, during a tasting with friends.
“The name came about during a beer tasting or hang out with friends and Jay Zvirgzdins, who later ended up brewing with us for a few years, mentioned it as a name idea.”
The orange on the label didn’t exactly help clear things up. Over time, the misunderstanding became part of the beer’s mythology.
“People make assumptions it has to do with OJ Simpson or Orange Juice, which is not really the case,” Hardesty said. “I can’t blame the thought of it meaning Orange Juice Run as we did put an Orange on the label.”
The beer itself
OJ Run has always been an imperial New England-style IPA built for big hop flavor without feeling heavy.
“The recipe has remained pretty much the same over the years,” Hardesty said. “The major difference is that we now contract and select specific lots for the hops used to create a more consistent beer.”
That consistency shows up everytime.
“I get Citrus, Mango, Melon flavors with a dank, citrus, melon aroma out of the beer,” he said.
It pours thick and hazy, with a soft bitterness that lets the hop character lead without becoming sharp or abrasive. Even at 8.6 % ABV, it drinks lighter than it looks.
What it did for Narrow Gauge
OJ Run didn’t just build a following. It helped carry the Narrow Gauge name beyond Florissant.
“OJ Run certainly was one of those frequently added extras by beer traders in the area that put our beer in front of people all over the country for the first time,” Hardesty said. “And eventually became a beer people were trading for along with Fallen Flag and the other countless new IPAs we were cranking out at the time.”
Before taprooms, before medals, before weekly production schedules, OJ Run traveled hand to hand. For many drinkers, it was their introduction to what Narrow Gauge was doing.
How people drink it
Some beers are seasonal. Others are special-occasion pours. OJ Run lives in a different lane.
“I’d have to say everyday favorite or a frequently revisited beer,” Hardesty said.
That reputation shows up in the numbers.
“When we started distributing across the area OJ Run went from just behind in production numbers to DDH Fallen Flag to slightly overtaking it in production volume for the last few years.”
It’s the beer people come back to. The one that doesn’t need a story attached once you’ve had it.
Keeping it relevant
These days, OJ Run doesn’t need reinvention to stay interesting. It just needs to keep showing up.
“Countless variations from fruited to DDH to higher ABV,” Hardesty said. “It is also at the forefront of our production as we make it pretty much weekly at this point.”
Some beers define a moment. Others define a brewery. OJ Run managed to do both.
OJ Run
New England-style imperial IPA
ABV: 8.6%
Hops: Citra, Galaxy, Amarillo
Availability: Rotational, frequent releases at the Narrow Gauge taproom
Variants: Double dry hopped, fruited and higher-ABV editions
