Laughing Monk Brewing | Sister Britney Hazy IPA

Pop Culture references are always a hit in the beer scene. Whether references to songs, or puns on band names, or pivotal cultural events, there is no shortage of choices. You’ll usually catch a few eyes and maybe a chuckle or two when people remember where they were, or all the words to a song they forgot they knew. But every once in a while it lands with more serious tones. In February of 2007 Britney Spears, overwhelmed with being constantly scrutinized by the paparazzi and public, walked into a Salon and took an electric razor to her hair.

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New Belgium Brewing Company | Voodoo Ranger 1985 IPA

By any measure, 1985 was a great year. Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” was blasting on every boombox, Back To The Future was blowing everyone’s minds in theaters, and yours truly was being born in the middle of Hurricane Gloria at a small hospital in Red Bank, New Jersey. Basically, the only cool thing that didn’t exist in 1985 was Hazy IPAs. New Belgium Brewing Company decided to pull a classic Marty McFly and rewrite history with their latest summer offering: Voodoo Ranger 1985 IPA.

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HenHouse Brewing Company | The Philadelphia Experiment IPA

The arrival of graduation car parades around town serves as a reminder that we’ve hit summertime. As new grads find exciting ways to celebrate their next chapter in life in the midst of a pandemic, some counties are starting to re-open with outdoor seating. Breweries that have been permitted to open outdoor seating and on-site consumption are now a beacon for the craft beer community.

HenHouse Brewing Company, based in Santa Rosa, California, isn’t open for outdoor seating quite yet, but that’s not stopping them from having killer curbside pick-up options and putting out freshies on the reg. One such offering is The Philadelphia Experiment IPA, named after an alleged military experiment which claimed that the union of gravity and electromagnetic radiation could render something invisible. (You know, normal things.) If you’re into conspiracy theories and enjoy juicy IPAs, be sure to follow HenHouse on Instagram for all the goods coming out of this seven-year old brewery. Read More

5 Stones Brewery | Galaxy Shepherd

On a clear night in the Texas Hill Country, you can look up into the vast unknown and see more stars than you could count in a lifetime. If conditions are right, and you let your eyes adjust to the night skies, you can even see the colors of the Milky Way swirling through the sea of stars. That’s a spectacular sight to see, and 5 Stones Artisan Brewery Galaxy Shepherd Pale Ale is a stellar brew to pair with the occasion.

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Fair State Brewing Cooperative | Spirit Foul

It’s baaaaaack. At the beginning of the month, Fair State Brewing Cooperative reintroduced its highly regarded seasonal collaboration with San Diego’s Modern Times Beer – Spirit Foul, a double dry-hopped hazy IPA for the ages.

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WestFax Brewing Company | Urban Lumberjack Hazy IPA

The hazy wave is still driving craft beer lovers crazy and Colorado is no exception. Most breweries now have a hazy IPA on tap due to the growing popularity of the style. In this showcase, we’re highlighting one of Denver’s most under-the-radar and tastiest hazy IPAs, Urban Lumberjack. Read More

Event Preview | Juicy Brews WestFest

On April 20, 2019, Hop Culture Magazine will return to Oakland for the second year in a row to host Juicy Brews WestFest Craft Beer Festival. Hosted in partnership with Drake’s Brewing Company at Drake’s Dealership ( 2325 Broadway, Oakland, CA), the crew has put together an impressive lineup. 

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National Brewers Take the Haze Craze to 12oz Cans

Chances are, your local brewery has experimented in the Hazy IPA trend. It would be silly not to given the incredible popularity of the newish beer style that has taken the nation – and even GABF – by storm thanks to its fruit-forward appeal and inherent drinkability. Hazy IPAs have expanded into many areas of the craft beer economy, but they’ve yet to really make an impact on the 12oz can segment. That is all changing thanks to the vision of three nationally-known breweries, 21st Amendment Brewery, Deschutes Brewery and Odell Brewing Co., making their hazy offerings readily available in the easily accessible aluminum format. We asked each brewery why they’ve decided to can their hazy creations.

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Forbidden Root’s ‘Assembly Required’ Line Brings Sour Haze to the Midwest

Scroll through your Instagram these days and you’re sure to find a wide selection of hazy beers in tulip glasses, strategically positioned to capture the faintest glimmer of sunlight on the glass. For many, the fanfare around the NE-style IPA is as much about the visuals as it is about the beer’s inherently juicy sweetness. Humans are visual eaters after all, so creating a beer that delights both your eyeballs and tastebuds makes sense. When I scrolled through my feed a few months back, my finger stopped on a post from Chicago-based Forbidden Root. The West-side brewery has made a name for itself with their botanical brews and hazy concoctions, but this newest endeavor, dubbed Assembly Required, was daring even for them. It was a sour NE-style IPA, more opaque than hazy, with a bright rosy red hue that departed from the typical orange juice color of a traditional haze bomb. Their new Assembly Required line is a bold evolution to the must-make trend of the present. After tasting the next batch, I’m confident in saying that the sour haze trend is alive and well in Chicago Read More

A Beer Insider’s Road Trip Guide to Northern California

For most, the foray into the world of beer trading is swiftly met with an introduction to the secondary value world, as that perceived value tends to drive the trading market. Fortunately, there are still areas free from the shackles of “me first” mindset. Luckily, through my own beer journey, I’ve been fortunate enough to find a small group that acts as a family. While the group mostly allows us to maintain connections online and send each other beers as presents, surprises, and BIFs (beer it forward, essentially chain mail but with beer as presents); recently I have focused my domestic travels on meeting these people in person. With SF Beer Week in progress and more than a half dozen faces I had yet to meet in person, I “sailed off for the San Francisco Bay”.

“Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship. Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip.”

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Three New Hazy IPAs You Can Find Nationwide

Let’s face it, the haze craze is here to stay. Amid slowing sales in the craft beer market, the incredible popularity of the Hazy IPA has butted the trend, as its juicy approachability captured the hearts (and wallets) of both brewers and consumers across the country in 2017. What started as murmurs among beer blogs is now a nationwide phenomenon and can be lauded (or scoffed at) as one of America’s major craft beer creations over the past decade.

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The Good Hop’s Extrava-CAN-za w/ Track 7 Brewing

You’ve probably heard of an extravaganza, but have you ever experienced an Extrava-CAN-za? Sacramento’s Track 7 Brewing releases limited run cans twice a month. These beers rotate and can only be purchased on-site at the brewery. Your first introduction to Track 7 Brewing may have been their bottles, but now they’re killing it with a whole slew of new recipes debuting in cans.

Can’t always make it up to Sacramento? Well our friends at The Good Hop have trekked up to Track 7 Brewing for you and picked up a carload of the special release cans to be sold in Oakland at The Good Hop store as part of today’s Extrava-CAN-za release. Ain’t that some Bay Area love?!

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Schlafly Beer Adds White Lager to Year-Round Menu

Featured image courtesy of Schlafly’s Facebook page.

There are very few beers I can honestly say are my wife’s favorites. But I can safely say Schlafly Beer‘s White Lager is one, and she will be very happy to learn that it has been added to the growing list of year-round releases. White Lager joins this exclusive list featuring Pale Ale, Kölsch, Oatmeal Stout, Grapefruit IPA and Expo IPA (exclusive to St. Louis).

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