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(A quick note on Sensory Style: A recent, very thought provoking article from CraftBeer.com (It’s Time to Rethink How We Talk About Craft Beer Basics) by Mirella Amato introduced the idea that separating beers into Ale or Lager categories really doesn’t help newer craft beer consumers determine what beers they may or may not like to try. Sensory Style is actually more informative. I tend to agree with this, so I have introduced CraftBeer.com’s Sensory Style categories, in addition to beer style, to help someone reading my reviews get quicker understanding of the overall experience they should expect from the beer. Sensory Style is divided into six broad categories: Sour/Tart/Funky, Crisp/Clean, Dark/Roasty, Malty/Sweet, Hoppy/Bitter and Fruity/Spicy. If you would like to explore these more on your on, you’ll find them here: CraftBeer.com Beer Styles. Go ahead and explore, you’ll find they work quite well.)

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Appearance: Light yellow & hazy. Looks like grapefruit juice. No visible carbonation. Good head retention.

Aroma: No malt aromas. Citrus on the front and tropical fruit on the backend with a whiff of coconut.

Flavor & Aftertaste: Citrus & tropical aromas. Slight sweet note. Some pepper. No bitterness.

Palate: Light bodied and dry. No astringency. Low carbonation. Medium length finish.

Hello LUDB readers! It’s been a few weeks since my last review; life just gets in the way sometimes. Glad to be back and I’ve got a review this time of a top tier NEIPA from Six Bridges Brewing that has a moniker fitting for the times – Strange Days Indeed. Six Bridges is another one of Georgia’s very young, up-and-coming breweries and is located in Johns Creek, GA. It was started by father and son team of Charles and Clay Gridley in 2018. Their core lineup of beers include a Shelby Golden Ale, Medlock NEIPA (rated 93 by The Beer Connoisseur Magazine), Sour Continuum Berliner Weisse, and Silent Accord Coconut Milk Stout. Strange Days Indeed is NEIPA featuring one of my favorite hops Nelson Sauvin.

Style-wise, this NEIPA checks off all the boxes. It’s a hazy, yellow-orange (you’d easily mistake it for a glass of grapefruit juice in color and smell) and pours to a nice mousse-like head exhibiting good head retention. As is true to the style, you experience some juicy hops aromas with citrus on the front end and tropical fruit on the back. I even detected a whiff of coconut. Bitterness is completely hidden, but it is still more dry than sweet. Flavors include citrus and tropical fruit with a lacing of pepper. The brewery’s tasting notes describe notes of white grapes, which is a characteristic I like about Nelson Sauvin. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that experience as I have with Creature Comforts’ Lager Everything Is…Nelson Sauvin, for example, but my samples were not the freshest either. I also think that is a function of how different the drinker’s experience can be with a hop variety in a lager beer versus an ale. The lager beer gives the hops a better canvas to shine from. For the palate, the mouth-feel is light bodied and dry with low carbonation and a medium length finish. This beer is double dry hopped; but it avoided any hops burn that tends to come out when “hoppiness” is emphasized.

I’ll admit I am not the biggest fan of most of these “hazy” IPAs. Primarily because I prefer something with a little bit of subtlety to it and lower alcohol. I also find many to suffer from “hop burn” and they not that sessionable, allowing the palate to become fatigued pretty quickly. None the less, Nelson Sauvin hops is a great choice for an NEIPA in my opinion because it doesn’t hit you over the head with massive juicy flavors. I also have to compliment Six Bridges on the label design. It’s attractive, easy to spot on the shelves and, most of all, readable. Nothing I hate worse that a beer that someone tried to turn into a Picasso making it impossible to read the label!

Strange Days Indeed is a seasonal offering that is no longer available. I luckily was able to find some of the last cans at my local bottle shop. I do hope Six Bridges decides to bring it back again sometime soon, I would definitely recommend grabbing some if they do.

Thanks for reading, until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!