Hazy Sunset
Boatyard Brewing Co.

 

Pours a slightly hazy bright sunny yellow.

Grassy hop notes with a breath of bright citrus.

Fresh cut grass, citrus, and slightly tropical notes, rather muted although.

Light bodied, medium carbonation, crisp, easy drinking.

Overall, a rather muted brew but easy drinking.

I wanted a bit more from this one. The flavors kind of work, but it seems like the beer can't decide if it wants to be a Fresh Squeezed clone or an M-43, fully hazy sibling. It gets stuck somewhere in-between, with the look of a partially hazy beer, the smell of a mostly normal IPA, and the taste of the above. I don't think it's a bad entry, and I'd certainly drink more Boatyard, but this beer really needs to decide what it wants to be.

I picked up a can of Boatyard's Hazy Sunset IPA last week for $2.89 at The Lager Mill. I'm in the mood for something hoppy today and I'm interested to see how this one turns out, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a tall 16oz can into an IPA glass.

A- The can looks nice, it's got a nice design to it and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a nice hazy golden color which took on more of a yellow hue when held to the light and it had a little over a finger and half worth of creamy white head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some nice rings of patchy lacing behind. This is a good looking IPA, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart some nice citrus fruit, light tropical fruit, light floral, light dank and light green hop like aromas with the fruitiness sticking out the most. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast and that leads into the malts which are a little on the lighter side and they impart some pale malt, light grain, bready and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a good aroma, the hops profile is good and the malts show up just enough.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and they impart all the same hoppy aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time there's more of citrus pith flavor with the green and dank hops showing up just a little more than they did in the aroma with the fruitiness still sticking out the most. Up next comes a slight bit of doughy yeast and that leads into the malts which are just a little lighter than they were in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects. On the finish there's a lower amount of bitterness with a citrus rind and pith, hoppy and slightly watery aftertaste. This is a pretty nice tasting beer, but I wish the malts showed up just a little more to give this beer a little bit of balance and I think it would have made the finish less watery.

M- Smooth, slightly refreshing, easy drinking, crisp, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and it's a nice example of the taste, it was really going in the right direction, but when I got to the taste it was just slightly rough around the edges and could have been balanced a little better which ended up holding this beer back a little. This beer had nice drinkability, I could drink a couple especially when it's warmer outside. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma, mouthfeel and appearance, they were all good and the highlights of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the taste, it's not bad, but I wish the finish was cleaned up a little more and not a little watery. I would buy this beer again, but it isn't something I would stock up on and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fruity IPA that's a little on the lighter side. All in all I enjoyed this beer, but I can see that it could be a little better with a little more work on the taste. It's one of the Boatyard beers I've had and it's a nice example of the style. Nice job guys, this is nice IPA, keep it up.

 

Difficult one to rate. My overall score is based on the fact that this purports to be an NE IPA, and I don't find it to be very representative of the style. That said, it wasn't a drain-pour by any stretch. Picked up a pint can at Mega Bev in Battle Creek, MI. Pours like an APA, looks like an APA, tastes like an APA. Definitely on the juicy side. Reminds me of Two Brothers' Sidekick or Pinball, FFF's Yum Yum, Stone's Vengeful, etc.

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 11/9/2017. Pours fairly hazy deep golden amber color with a 2 finger dense and rocky white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper/pine, wheat, biscuit, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper/pine, wheat, biscuit, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very mild pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange peel, light pepper/pine, wheat, biscuit, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and zero lingering hop astringency after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6.5%. Overall this is a fantastic NEIPA. All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and refreshing to drink, with the very mildly bitter/drying finish. Very juicy, vibrant, and dank hops; balanced malts and no residual sweetness. Glad they revamped the recipe and ABV. Used to be quite rough and increasingly drying on the finish. Now it's pretty much a perfect example of the style, amazingly soft mouthfeel. A highly enjoyable offering. The Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo hop profile is fantastic.