Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA

Beer Name: Hazy Little Thing
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, CA; Mills River, NC)
ABV: 6.7%
How sold: 6-packs of 12 oz. cans
Where bought: Belmont Station (Portland, OR)
Price: $2.07 for a single 12 oz. can

Date Canned: December 5, 2017
Date Purchased: December 22, 2017
Date Drank: December 26, 2017
When brewed? Limited-time/seasonal beer.
IBUs: 40

Food Pairings: Sierra Nevada suggests pork ribs with brown sugar and bourbon BBQ sauce; sharp white cheddar cheese; or pineapple upside-down cake.

What's on the Website: "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." Read more here!

Where distributed: Sierra Nevada can ship to many states with breweries on the West Coast and East Coast. Check their full distributor list!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured hazy light orange into a pint glass. White head; some lacing. 4.5/5

Smell (25%): Tropical grapefruit with floral and some creamy notes. 4/5

Taste (40%): More floral-forward for me, with pilsner-like or biscuity malts. Aftertaste has some fleeting tropical citrus. 3/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-bodied, some carbonation. Juicy with some dry tongue. 4/5

Overall (20%): An average IPA. I was more curious than anything else to see how Sierra Nevada tackled a hazy IPA, as the IPAs I've had from them in the past had assertive bitterness. Again, though, I was not very impressed here. The hazy IPAs I've had brought an abundance of tropical; this one did not (save for parts of the aftertaste). I got a lot of floral or light malt instead. Perhaps others out there will like this, but unfortunately, I'll take a pass. 3/5

Final Weighted Rating: 3.425/5