#30SecondBeerReview · #FPLBeerClub
Boogie Board Olympics
Humble Sea Brewing Company — Santa Cruz, Ca
Hazy IPA
Humble Sea Brewing Company
6.4%
ABV
Murky pear yellow
Color
Contributing Factors
Presentation
✓
Character
✓
Experience
✓
Return
–
3 / 4
I'd recommend trying it
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Bright and murky yellow-orange — one drinker's exact description — fully opaque with a white head. This pours like POG juice in a glass, which is the visual equivalent of the flavor promise. The DDH foggy designation earns it.
Aroma
Grape soda leads — that's the Nelson Sauvin doing its distinctive New Zealand wine-grape thing, concentrated by the double dry hop into something almost candy-like at full expression. Behind it, pulpy orange from the Citra and Azacca combination, mango from the Mosaic-adjacent tropical depth. One drinker detects lemony hop burn alongside the tropical notes, which is the Citra and Azacca interacting with the Nelson — citrus brightness cutting through the grape quality. Complex, fruit-forward, and immediately Santa Cruz in attitude.
Palate
Creamy, velvety soft, medium body — Humble Sea's own mouthfeel description, and the DDH hazy format delivers it completely. Orange juice and POG juice through the middle, the Nelson grape character weaving through the Citra citrus and Azacca tropical depth. The mild-moderate bitterness — this isn't a zero-IBU smoothie sour masquerading as an IPA, there's genuine hop structure beneath the fruit. The dank grassy finish quality the long-form drinker identifies is the Azacca and Citra's herbal dimension coming through on the back half.
Finish
White peach and a nice green, raw hoppy close — the raw quality from the double dry hop doing exactly what fresh DDH additions produce. Medium length, the grape soda and peach fading together into a slightly dank, herbal close that keeps the beer honest. Not too juicy, not too bitter — flavorful hazy that's juicy but not too much, with a good hop blend
The Verdict
Humble Sea mapped the flavor exactly: grape soda and mango aroma, orange juice and POG palate, white peach finish. DDH foggy with Citra, Azacca, and Nelson at 6.4% ABV — a Santa Cruz hazy IPA that earns its 4.11 from the board to the break. Gold medal, Boogie Board Olympics.
— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 7 Mar 2020
More from Humble Sea Brewing Company