Yowsers. With the saturation of the word "juicy" when describing IPAs nowadays, it can be hard to express when a beer really hits it out of the park. But this Hazy IPA is juicy, juicy, juicy. Juicy.
It’s less hazy than many hazies on the market: cloudy, but without the opaque orange smoothie appearance of some others. But the fruit is strong in this one. There’s an explosive fruitiness coming not only from the hops, but also the yeast (SafAle S-33 from Fermentis, for those interested), with esters going haywire and cranking the fruit flavours sky high. The result of this combination is a fruit basket full of squidgy mango and sweet pawpaw. Imagine you brought a box of fruit home but accidentally left it on the bench when you went away for the weekend; when you arrive home on Sunday evening, you unlock the door and the sticky smell of overripe fruit greets you from the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the malt is doing everything malt should do in a hazy – setting the stage with a sweetness that holds the hops front and centre, and giving the softness you’re looking for – while a lick of bitterness keeps it all hemmed in like your mum tucking the sides of your sheets when you’re already comfortable in bed.
Forgive the barrage of imagery and the mixed metaphors. Hopefully it all communicates the barrage of flavour I experienced.
Mick Wust
