Juicy Mavs Hazy IPA
Surreal Brewing Company

RB transfer

 

For a non/low alcoholic beer this is my favorite -- hands down!! Love also that it's from a woman owned brewery.

From the can, it pours a slightly hazy amber color with a very nice vibrant off-white head that slowly reduces as you drink the brew. The nose definitely gets a pleasant citrus, but the mouth gets a toasty grainy taste - overall acceptable.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a very hazy, medium to dark coppery amber with a three finger white head with good retention and chunky lacing; looks nice. Aroma of faint biscuit malt, Postum, citrus hops and overripe fruit. Flavor is light biscuit malt, citrus hops, lemon, mild mixed ripe fruit and Postum again; citrus hops and whole wheat muffin in the finish. Medium bodied with litght to moderate creaminess. This is one of the more unique tasting LA beers I've tasted. Probably the closest in looks to a hazy IPA, although a bit more muddy in color. IPA level bitterness and profile of the hops, which lean heavily to citrus, but with some vague mixed fruit like some hazy IPAs. The malt is not reminiscent of an IPA, and as noted, reminds me of Postum, the old coffee substitute. Like that product, it does not really taste like it's origin drink, but has a bit of a charm in itself. The grain malt here tastes to me more like toasted whole wheat than barley. Those expecting an IPA experience might be disappointed, but I like wheat beverages and this one brought back nostalgic memories; I found the malt comforting. It hits the spot when I want some hops and some more body than most hopped NA concoctions. I'll get this again. Rated as an LA ale, not as a hazy IPA.

 

Packaged 11/04/21, so within two and a half months. Label points out 25 calories and no sugar, for those interested—numbers similar to what I’ve seen from Partake. I think there’s a conversation around the processing that I’m curious about.

This puts a little murky, but given the plug of yeast I rinsed out of the fan things might have settled out over the past 10 weeks. That NA worty aroma is present, but it’s buried behind a bright, lemony note up front. There’s a Lemon Kool-Ade character on the sip, more sweet than I’d like but not terrible. And a nice contrast from the worty notes I’ve encountered elsewhere.

I’m not sure I would get this again, but I’d give some of their other offerings a try if I found them fresher.

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug.

Appearance: golden-orange hue with a moderate haze and a thin finger of frothy ivory foam atop. Seems legit.

Smell: light aroma of earthy hops with not much underlying malt. Not the worst thing in the world, but not great.

Taste: like the aroma, there's some nice hops here with an earthy, grassy character, but practically no malt flavor at all. I mean, that's not entirely surprising for NA, but still; there are ways to do this a lot better.

Mouthfeel: very light body but a big carbonation that almost makes up for it.

Overall: certainly not the worst NA beer out there, but there's not a ton here to recommend it.

Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Good looking simple IPA. Golden to orange amber body color, and mostly clear, with some rising fine carbonation. Soft white forming three finger head, with some actual decent retention and staying power. Soapy cling and settling as it lowers and comes down to earth.

Nose is fairly good also. Mellow citrus orange hop, and a fairly noticeable caramel sweetness. Hints a bit of zest and pith oil, which makes for a good contrast of sweetened malt and hop fruit bitterness. Very good start here for a NA.

Palate seems to just go back to square one again. Dry powdery malt bill, and a fairly wet body. Muted hints of orange and a bit of light bitterness, but also with a chalky and flour dry flavor and aftertaste.

While just barely touching on ipa, it's certainly not touching on juicy. Another exceptionally dry dusty tasting NA which ironically makes me more thirsty and parched than anything, but is at least passable, barely.

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange yellow with a small fluffy white head. Smells of grassy and citrus hops, not a full aroma, but pretty good for a NA beer. Tastes of grassy hops, not much to it, but not terrible. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, slightly heavy on carbonation. Overall, a slightly above average NA beer.

Tastes like sour water. It's refreshing and I kinda like the taste but it lacks any definition. It's like if you steeped hops and fruit for a couple minutes in boiling water. If you're craving IPA flavor this won't scratch that itch.

Sidenote: I don't drink many low alcohol beers so I could be missing the point of the style.

Cloudy, low/moderate carbonation, smells very hoppy. Does have an initial juicy flavor but that fades quite rapidly. Not really bitter compared to how much it smells. Looks like it has a thick body given how cloudy it is, but it is very light in feel. In summary it has all of the attributes of good beer except for taste which is quite tepid. Still this is better than a macro brew NA.

 

Canned 10/31. Pours hazy, gold in color with one third inch head. Taste is starfruit and guava and light breadiness. Light bodied, slightly sweet, high carbonation. Not too juicy but really good for the calories. Would like to get this fresher.

I’ve never had an NA craft beer, but was willing to give this a go during my cleanse weeks. Expectations aren’t high.

Tastes like tonic water and hops. Floral, grassy, pine. Light. Not much else. It has a little bit of malts but not much.

For 25 calories, not bad. Not very flavorful, but you shouldn’t expect much with something so low in calories and NA.

I pop the top and it’s a small geyser!; managed to get most of it in a teku, with a huge rocky white head; deep gold/pale hazy amber; ok cap retention; medium spotty lacing; chunks of yeast fall to the bottom of the glass. Light citrus and berries nose. Lemongrass with very little bitterness; not much flavor here. Watery and highly carbonated, prickly feel. Overall, not bad, but not much here; I got more flavor from Lagunitas’ Hop Water; and I could have done without the yeast chunks.

look: pours a hazy (more like muddy) dirty golden with white head with below avg retention
smell: combination of sweet and fruity but no necessarily pleasant. like an expired OJ
feel: medium light body, light carbonation, no astringency present. creamy texture
flavor: lacking in everything I look in a beer unfortunately. malt element is weak. this is an IPA because the bitterness left with the alcohol. oh, man... finish is smooth but uninteresting.
overall: I'd heard some good things about this beer but I am totally underwhelmed. hazy IPA? as in NE IPA? where's the hop derived aroma? and flavor? sorry pass.

 

A little hazy with light brown appearance. Very good hoppy smell. Taste only hops. Mouthfeel thin, not juicy at all.
Great smell, good taste, high drinkability. Especially considering NA + like 30 calories.

Tastes like hop water. Needs some body and maltiness.