Boatswain Hazy IPA
Minhas Craft Brewery

This doesn’t strike me as a hazy IPA or even a modern IPA. It reminds me of a home brewed IPA from the early 2010s or late 2000s when the style was rapidly evolving.

Where as most modern IPAs will have a pretty subtle malt profile this one goes heavy with the caramel / roasted malts that were super popular in almost all homebrew recipes back then. Does it highlight the hops? Does it add anything to the beer? Not really! It actually gets in the way and adds layers of sweetness and dark fruit.

The hops are also very subdued compared to modern standards that can jump out of the glass. Hops in this beer are present and certainly not well balanced, verging a bit into pithy citrus. Definitely some bitterness in here as well but not out of line and some nice notes of ripe grapefruit come out.

Compared to any other modern hazy IPA this will certainly rank as the worst, it’s a very poor example of the style but you know what, it’s not that bad and it’s kind of fun to revisit a beer that seems like the recipe was pulled off an old Internet homebrew forum. It’s a very rough beer but I think if you approach this with an open mind you can find some enjoyment from this beer. At a little over $1/can I would consider buying it again but certainly not a beer I would enjoy drinking every day.

this is truly awful, as bad as any of them really. a bitter, cheap, and metallic beer with more malt color than most hazy types have, a thin texture, and a general grossness about the ferment that really turns me off. it tastes like the can when its cold, and thats at its best. after that it gets hoppy but without any personality from the hops, like i could never guess a varietal its so generic, but its bitter and kind of oily, green and sharp, and it stays on my palate way too long. none of the dry hop fruitiness is here, none of the other volatiles, its lightly piney, even gin-like for a flash, but its really rough. apparently its made with citra and mosaic and ella, which seems neat, tip of the cap for putting the ella in here, but i wish i could smell and taste it through the overly intense alpha acid and the plastic tasting ale yeast thats all through it. malty and heavy without being sweet, not really that hazy, and an apple cider kind of note at the end. it still tastes like beer, as in its not undrinkably bad, and it still has grain and yeast and hops to appreciate, even if poorly assembled. beer to me is like pizza, it takes similar effort to make a good one and a bad one, so why do bad ones exist at all? glad i have family and friends to drink through the rest of the six pack, not sure ill reach for another can of this. you cant beat the price, but the beer is barely worth it...

 

Inoffensive. I feel like it could have been much more, but they chose to play it safe.

Poured from an undated 12oz can

On rlthe pour almost 2 fingers of white head with decent retention, especially for Manhasset, and leaves some lacing. Body is a deep but hazy amber, which is a bit off putting. Not many hazies are this dark.

The smell is immediately malty and throws a fermented molasses smell. Expected for Minhas, but there are less yeast off aromas than expected. Hops are present, but not all that aromatic, and covered up by the sweetness.

Taste follows the aroma with big malt, and slight but vague and hard to pin down hops. There is an earthy/herbal bitterness right up front, before a very big, amber ale style sweetness comes through. Surprisingly clean, but wayyy too sweet and definitely not a "hazy there are some sweet fruity yeast esters.

Feel is super full and malty, with a long mouth coating almost syrupy finish. Somehow there is a slight dryness, but it doesn't offset the full almost overwhelming finish.

Overall, this minhas brew gets a pass, and is verging on enjoyable, but it definitely comes off as more of a hoppy amber ale. Passion grade but meh.

 

Off the pour I noticed that it was far less than hazy, but had a deep caramel color that did darken it.

The smell was offsetting. Very malty with little to no fruit or resin undertones. I associated the smell with a malty amber, not a NEIPA or even any IPA.

Taste wise it was a strong malt with decent bitterness. The taste really stuck around, for over a minute, and in a good way. Once the malt flavor dissipated, there was an odd sweetness followed by a nice bitterness, not quite pine though.

Its not a brew to talk up, but not one to overly talk down either. Its still a step up from your average grocery store beer. I'd certainly drink it again, although I'd not likely buy again unless the selection was somewhat suspect.

Really good beer. I liked it alot. Goes down easy.

I agree with some of the other reviewers it doesn't really taste like a hazy IPA .... Love the look with a great head and lacing ... Once you get past that you have a nice solid Brew .... A neighbor gave this to me and said she got it at Trader Joe's I had never heard of it

Is this a "Poor Man's" Dogfish Head IPA? Me thinks so...

**FACTS: This is not really a true "hazy IPA" since it's, well, not one...at least not in the "New England Style" and you can see this from the majority of other reviews which come from unsettled and/or upset drinkers, whereas some enjoy it. Here's my best guess as to why:

This is actually a GOOD beer, it's just more of an unfiltered American IPA that combines classic IPA hops and malts with old world/classic hops and malts. So, Ella hops are NOT usually found in IPAs but are more like a noble hop which brings spice-like flavors which make this beer seem a bit "off" to some as per the other reviews.

The caramel (or crystal?) malts come through as bready and caramel odors on the nose along with the spice of the Ella hops, so it smells more like a red IPA or Amber ale but with more hops.

Then you have Mosaic and Citra which are your more common IPA hops and they shine forward in this beer with grapefruit and other typical fruity and bitter hops.

So, this amber-colored, hazy beer smells of caramel, bready malts and some strange yet delicious spice-hoppiness. In the mouth I get lots of malty, breadiness along with a mixture of spice and fruit-forward hops, similar to say a Dogfish Head IPA (60, not 90!).

The mouthfeel is medium and the beer finishes medium-dry with some pretty significant hop oils remaining. This thing is hopped up and it shows the most on the after taste.

Strange and good, but NOT a "Hazy IPA," more of an unfiltered Red American IPA. It would be reviewed better if it were to be sold as such.

 

Poured into a snifter - huge head, about 3 fingers length risen.
Getting aromas of herbs, hops, floral essence.
Tastes the same as it smells! Nothing special about this at all though.
Light bodied, easy to drink.
I wouldn't buy this again.

 

 

Extremely disappointing and my expectations weren't high considering the low price. Tastes nothing like a hazy IPA. Hard to describe the odd flavor and aftertaste so I'll just say it's unpleasant.

 

Oh boy. I had no idea a hazy could be this bad. Trader Joes is totally new to the region, so I had no idea how bad a brew they would put out on the shelves. Pretty bad. I guess I will stay away from the wine too (and maybe just the store).

This pours not very hazy with nice head. The aroma is nasty straw, a warning of the bad tastes to follow. The taste takes skunky badness down a hole and buries it. It has none of the juiciness I wish it had. It is an exceptional value but you have to put up with a bad balance of hops and malts.

Not recommended unless you've lost all your taste to COVID, in which case you can drink pretty cheaply on these.

12 ounce can, with some numbers on the bottom that I can make no sense of.

Purchased at my local TJs.

Pours out with about a medium haze, typical almond amber, under a lasting light khaki cap...leaves some light spotty lacing early and then respectable sheeting late on the glass.

Resiny and herbal hop sniff.

Tasty enough brew, making this a good value for the low cost...On the palate its a pleasing light resiny hop presence , but lacking the floral and tropical notes of the heavy weights of the style.

Decent every day kinda brew.

meh.
(the aftertaste is better than the taste)