Read to the tune of Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love:
This thing (this thing)
Called beer (called beer)
It pours (like beer)
In a keg all night
It foams (woo woo)
It bubbles (woo woo)
It’s hopped all over like it oughta be
I kinda like it
Hazy little thing IPA!
One hopes you will indulge the concept of artistic license with that little ditty. At least, this one hopes you will. I couldn’t help it, though, the name of Sierra Nevada’s new “New England” style IPA had me humming that old Queen song. You know. The one you’re humming now, too.
“New England” style IPAs are the current fad, replacing the last one, “session IPAs”. To me, they’re all just IPAs, with perhaps some differences to them. Here, that would be a lack of filtration and addition of oats to add a hazy appearance, and a juicy citrus character. I like these beers well enough, though not all of them.
Sierra Nevada says:
As brewers, we get the privilege to sample our beers straight from the tanks in all their raw glory. Some beers need a little polishing to get ready to go out into the world, while others—the hop-heavy, rowdy, crowd-pleasers—should just be left alone. We wanted to share this brewery-only treat with you, so we present this Hazy Little Thing, our unfiltered, unprocessed IPA, straight from the tanks and into the can.
Ingredients from the website:
Yeast Ale yeast
Bittering Hops Citra
Finishing Hops Citra, Comet
Malts Two-row Pale, Munich, Oats, Acidulated
Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA has an alcohol content of 6.7% by volume with 40 IBUs. It runs $8.99 a six-pack at Total Wine. Good deal! Mine was canned on 11/28/2017 and I drank it on December 21st. Less than a month old!
Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA pours to a, well, hazy yellow orange color with a thick fluffy white head of foam and a juicy citrus piney nose with a hint of tropical fruit. There is heavy lacing on the sides of my glass. Taking a sip, the beer has a light to less than medium maltiness up front with big juicy grapefruit rind, pineapple and piney notes all followed by a surprisingly lightly bitter finish (but juicy).
Tasty enough, but I prefer my local Jekyll Southern Juice to this one. That said, I would buy it again.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler