Hazy Rays IPA

Review Date 7/14/2023 By John Staradumsky

  Style: India Pale Ale   Brewery: Lawson's Finest Liquids   Country: USA   State: Vermont   $ Per OZ: $.15 (B)   ABV: 5.3%

I got a new beer today! Yes I did! Not only is it new for me, but it’s new for Vermont’s Lawson’s Brewery. It’s a new, light bodied hazy New England India Pale Ale called Hazy Rays IPA and…..

WE NOW INTERRUPT THIS BEER REVIEW FOR THIS SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN….

As I type, it is 6:37 AM on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Obviously, I am not drinking my can of Hazy Rays now, I did that several nights ago and took tasting notes when I did. I am fleshing out my review with my thoughts on the beer, and as I do, I wanted to add my thoughts on yesterday’s devastating news story: the demise of Anchor Brewing Company.

You may be thinking that this review is not about an Anchor beer, and you would be right to do so. In a way, though, that is the entire point here. It’s not about an Anchor beer, it’s about another brewery’s beer, and the fact we are so often drinking another brewery’s beer, and not an Anchor beer, is why we are losing this iconic piece of American brewing history. I’m drinking a new beer, from a relatively new brewery, and that means…I’m not drinking an Anchor beer.

It was only a few weeks ago that Anchor announced they would be pulling back distribution from every state but California, their home state. That news was bad enough (I had had access to Anchor beers in both Rhode Island and Georgia constantly since 1982), but it was coupled with the fact that they were ending production of their legendary Christmas Ale, Anchor Our Special Ale.

Our Special Ale was an American classic, and kicked off the tradition of a seasonal holiday brew for American Craft brewers. Each year it was a little different, and the 2022 release was the 48^th edition; only two more to go to 50 years of brewing history. It began as an IPA, what would become Anchor Liberty Ale. It was IPA when IPA wasn’t cool. Eventually, it became a dark and malty, rich and spicy winter warmer. It was much beloved by old-time beer geeks.

It was much beloved by me. When I first reviewed it, I noted the very first bottle I ever tasted.

 I remember my very first bottle of this beer as clearly as if I’d tasted it yesterday. I can only say that about a few of the very many I have tasted over the years, but perhaps more than any, this is true of Anchor’s Our Special Ale. . This was a beer I had been seeking for a long time, ever since seeing Michael Jackson's classic Beer Hunter series in the late eighties, where the beer was so reverently mentioned. Imagine my excitement, then, when I spotted a sole bottle of the 1991 brew in a liquor store in Waltham, Massachusetts, back in 1992.

I never missed it after that, managing to get at least a six-pack every holiday season. I always said it would just not be Christmas without it. This year, it will just not be Christmas without it.

And after all this terrible news, Anchor is closing up shop. The worst news yet. In part I blame Sapporo Brewing of Japan for this. They bought Anchor in 2017 and should have taken better care of it. They invested a large sum of money ($85 Million I believe) and should have better protected that investment. They are not, however, solely to blame for the end of Anchor Brewing. To quote Walt Kelly and Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

That’s right. Us. As beer drinkers, we are all to blame for the end of Anchor Brewing. Well, most of us anyway-myself included. I am sure there are and have been loyal and die-hard Anchor fans out there, doing their part to support the brand. For the most part, though, we’re so busy chasing the latest fad, ticking off new beer after new beer, that we don’t drink enough of the beers that got us here in the first place.

I should have drunk more Anchor. We all should have. This, too, is where beers like Lawson’s Hazy Rays fits in. It’s one of many New England IPAs Lawsons brews (every brewery seems to have 50 of them these days). And every time we are drinking the latest iteration of that style-we’re not drinking an Anchor beer. Do I blame Lawson’s for this? Absolutely not. They, and so many brewers like them, are only giving the beer drinker what the beer drinker wants. We are to blame. We want the constant influx of new over the old and tried and true,

It’s not just Anchor falling victim here, either. Here in Georgia, so far this year Orpheus, Burnt Hickory, and Second Self all closed their doors, although Orpheus plans to have their beer brewed elsewhere and Burnt Hickory vows to open in a new location. Is this the future of craft beer? A steady stream of new breweries opening while old ones we tire of close behind them?

Anchor, though, was special. Anchor was history. Anchor had been an ongoing concern since 1896, with 127 years of brewing history. There are older breweries in America (Yuengling dates to 1829), but none have the charm and background that Anchor does. First off, there is the uniquely American style: Steam Beer. Other breweries could not even use the name, so the style is officially called California Common.

Anchor had a modern renaissance story. This is not the first time Anchor ran into trouble. The brewery almost closed in 1965, but was rescued by washing-machine heir Fritz Maytag. He revitalized the brewery and its beers, and really and truly established what would become known as craft beer in America.

Is there still hope for Anchor? There’s always hope. Rhode Island’s Narragansett Brewing, itself a Phoenix rising from the ashes, has started a petition to save the Anchor brewery. We need more. Jim Koch and the Boston Beer Company, here’s your chance to step up and save a piece of Americana. Add it to your distinctive Samuel Adams brands, and the Dogfish beers. Or maybe Ken Grossman and Sierra Nevada could buy Anchor. They are both California based, after all, and this would be a major win for you in the eyes of beer geeks everywhere.

And we beer geeks do have a part in this, too. Should Anchor be saved, we have an obligation not to let this happen again. We need to buy their beer. I see since the announcements of the Anchor pullback and then the closing posts all over Facebook of people running out to get some before it’s gone. Would that we had had such enthusiasm for Anchor when they were still open for business. If they come back, we truly need to support this historic brewery. Not to the exclusion of beers like Lawson’s Hazy Rays IPA, of course. Just maybe now and again we should pick up a classic to go with the new and bedazzling.

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULE BEER REVIEW, ALREADY IN PROGRESS…..

….I got a can recently from Half Time Beverage. I love Lawson’s beers and its always a treat when I can pop one. Lawson’s says about the beer:

Our new juicy and hazy IPA features a blend of Citra and Mandarina Bavaria to deliver a tropical medley of tangerine, clementine, and mandarin oranges. Hazy Rays is soft on the palate and incredibly quaffable!

Lawson’s Finest Liquids Hazy Rays IPA has an alcohol content of 5.3% by volume. I paid $5.49 for my pint can from Half Time, and Total Wine sells it for $10.49 the 4-pack of pint cans. They also carry a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans for $21.99-but not in Georgia. My can was stamped PKG 19APR23 and I drank it on June 26^th.

Lawson’s Finest Liquids Hazy Rays IPA pours to a hazy yellow orange color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of bright juicy tangerine fruit and orange peel. Taking a sip, the beer is thin in body but quite juicy indeed. It’s vibrant with tangerine and orange notes, and finishes with a hint of bitterness, but only a hint. I get some citrus rind at the last, some resin, but would like more bitterness. I did get some resiny hop burps out of this one.

Refreshing and pleasant, but not my favorite Lawson’s beer. I would, however, drink it again.

Glad I tried it?  T