In summery

Two broadly season-appropriate offerings from Odell today, beginning with Sippin' Tropical. This is a variant of their Sippin' Pretty sour beer, one I wasn't terribly impressed by back in 2019. Here they've replaced the açaí, elderberry and whatnot with pineapple, passionfruit and tangerine, which sounds like a much more attractive proposition. It's still just 4.5% ABV too. There's a cleanly tart aroma with a hint of the tangerine but not much fruit otherwise. It gets a little busier on tasting, with all three elements represented, but quite muted overall. I'm especially surprised at the passionfruit not showing off for once. The mild fruit matches a mild tartness making for some quite plain thirst-quenching. This is fine for those summer drinking occasions where it only has to be cold and fizzy, but don't expect much beyond that.

Hazer Tag was added to their range two years ago, when I guess it was apparent that this trend wasn't going away. It's a 7% ABV IPA and moderately hazy: a translucent orange rather than yellow emulsion. There's a citrus tang in the aroma, not quite juicy but juice adjacent, and a slightly worrying dry savoury edge as well. The juice asserts itself on tasting, coming with a slightly inappropriate intense sweetness, leaning it away from real oranges and towards cordial territory. Thankfully it doesn't go too far. A balancing bitterness follows; a lemon or lime bite that keeps the sweet side and a heavy mouthfeel from clogging up the palate. Finally the savoury element materialises only briefly in the very finish, flashing fried onions and burnt rubber. Nothing to worry about, however. It's no stunner, and possibly not even up to the stellar standard of Odell's more established beers, but like the one before it, it gets the job done.

These cans cost €2.50 each in Molloy's and as such represent pretty decent value for money. If they're still available one could do a lot worse than stock up on them for whatever casual al fresco drinking is left to us this year.