Hazy Days Call for Hazy IPAs
Hydra’s Haze Hazy India Pale Ale - Heavy Seas Beer, Baltimore, MD
I remember when my father started branching out from Flying Dog and started trying out other local beer. Not 100% sure if this is the case, but I think his next interest was Heavy Seas Beer, specifically their Loose Cannon IPA. I’ve had a number of their beers including Loose Cannon, TropiCannon, Double Cannon, Powder Monkey, Peg Leg, and Night Swell. Of that list, there’s only one I can remember particularly disliking: Night Swell - it just wasn’t for me. Five out of six isn’t too bad, and it absolutely hasn’t stopped me from continuing to try their beer. I had no idea that they had this limited release out until I saw it on the shelf as I was leaving the craft beer store. I love hazy IPAs, and I’m thrilled to have seen it last minute. I was also almost a little intimidated after reading the description:
Hydra’s Haze is one monster of a beer. Brewed with a ridiculous amount of Citra and Galaxy hops for a juicy, dank flavor - an intense hop experience is lurking right around the corner.
Powerful, attention grabbing words. Hooked me on that one for sure haha and at 6%, it’s an easy drinkin’ IPA.
First sip: Definitely hoppy and juicy, but not as intense as expected. Was hoping for something to wake me up, WAKE ME UP INSIDE *I CAN’T WAKE UP* (for all of you still stuck in the middle angsty phase of their life like me). The hops linger. Well, they more so move in to stay for a while until they land back on their feet. Wow they’re still here, and I’m okay with it. Stay as long as you like! I love it. It’s not bitter in a forward way but in a “hey I’m here too but understand my place in all this” kind of way. This is a solid beer. It’s complex, but comprehensible. It’s delicious, but not overly intense. Juicy and hoppy, but not as ridiculous as advertised, which is okay. Maybe the lingering effect is the “lurking around the corner” aspect of the beer. It’s never really in your face, but always there waiting for you to notice it. This was the first (and second) beer of the night, but I had a different hazy for the third...this made me retrospectively understand what they meant by ridiculous. It was like a recalibration. Having an IPA that isn’t as hoppy really reminds you what hoppy means. I’ve been drinking all sorts of other stuff recently, like stouts and sours and porters, so I practically forgot what hops were!
I hope they make this a regular because I would regularly buy it. There’s also the fact that green is my favorite color, so that impacts my choice. In this case I’m grateful it did because this beer was plain awesome. If you can, go get some and see for yourself because it is juicy and hoppy as they say, and that intense hop experience is truly lurking around the corner.
Stay healthy! And keep washing your hands! We aren’t out of the woods yet.