Fleeting
Ghost Town Brewing

 

So this can is 4 days away from being exactly 1 year old. I know, crazy of me to even buy it, especially considering the name. True irony; no doubt.

Here's the thing. I'm finding more and more that high-quality, well-made Hazy IPAs can actually age really well, especially when kept in the fridge for about 6 months to a year. I actually tend to find fresh Hazies too astringent to enjoy as much as I do a clean crisp WC IPA. LCB in Tehachapi makes a lot of these super well dry-hopped, but minimally wet hopped NEIPAs that don't have dates on the cans. Then after drinking them and doing some research, I found out that they were not brewed again, they were from the same original batch I had tried months prior. And they're even yummier than they were fresh.

The aroma is not as intense and definitely not as memorable or fresh. That's not really up for debate. But, I still perceive the presence of yellow peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango and pine shimmering over the canvas of a fruitcake-like malt base.

After having literally hundreds of pints of this style, I'm almost certain that this beer tastes better to me now than it would have 9 months ago. 11 months ago, I'm a little bit less sure. But I'd be willing to bet money on it.

And perhaps more significantly, the drinkability of this beer is on par with a pale ale. This is much smoother than and almost as clean tasting as your average WC IPA.

I don't know what else to say. If you don't like a hazy IPA, leave it in a fridge for half a year, and you might find you like it better. Just, don't try it with like a Sierra Nevada or a New Belgium beer. Pick a beer most people haven't heard of: one that actually still counts as craft.