A hazy shade of summer

There can be no clearer indication that I don't drink as much IPA as I used to than coming home on a sunny evening and thinking "Ooh, I'd love an IPA about now." Basqueland was the brewery that happened to have the goods on the day.

I started hazy, on Life Cycle, which is 6.4% ABV. It's fully hazy and smells beautifully juicy, of fresh and pure orange juice. On tasting it takes a sudden turn to the savoury, with herbs and liquorice making it bitter, sending the juice to the back as an aftertaste afterthought. It still works, though. There's no grit and no garlic, even if it is sharper than the really good hazy IPAs. The can's smallprint tells us that Sabro features in the recipe, and I think that explains the oddness, even if it doesn't end up tasting like coconut. Azacca and Ekuanot, I presume, are what bring the juice. This is a pretty decent take on the murk thing, offering a pleasing level of bitterness while still retaining the essential hazy features. Ideal for getting back into the IPA game.

We turn immediately retro with a purported west coast IPA. To underline its credentials they've called it SSD in honour of San Sebastián and San Diego. I say "purported" because it's hazy, even if it's a proper shade of orange. The aroma is strangely rubbery, not unpleasant but not singing with fresh hops either. The herbal thing I noticed in the hazy one is present here too, even though the stated hops are quite different -- Strata, Citra, Mosaic and Ella. It's bitter, sure, west coast-like, but it's not clean. That visible fuzz gets in the way of the flavour. Impressively it's 8% ABV and actually billed as a double IPA: I had to read the can to know that because it doesn't taste it. The end result is quite harsh while also lacking in west-coast's proper punchiness and weighty malt base.

To conclude, Life Cycle is a beer to try if you don't think you like hazy IPA, while SSD should be avoided by any west-coast purists. Beer is weird. You're lucky to have me here, putting things straight.