Sunrise Valley Hazy IPA by Garage Project (ft Trillium)
This week’s beer is an absolute belter. It’s a collaboration between the excellent Garage Project (whose praises I’ve sung previously) and the equally amazing Trillium. It’s a hazy IPA that perfectly encapsulates everything about that beer genre. And it’s called Sunrise Valley.
Hazy IPA’s have been the trendy beer of choice for much of the craft beer industry for a while now. So it’s easy to get a little bored with them. Not that hazy IPA’s aren’t delicious. If they’re done with some degree of skill it’s still a type of beer I really enjoy. But when you’re awash with really good hazy’s, it’s easy to forget what a truly brilliant one can taste like. Sunrise Valley has reminded me.
This is just an exceptional beer. I drink a lot of hazy IPA’s. It might be a big call, but I genuinely can’t think of a better one that I’ve had. No qualifiers, no caveats, this one is just the best.
At first sip, the main thing that strikes you is just how smooth it is. It’s not overly creamy like a milkshake IPA or stout. It’s just really really smooth. The second thing that hits you is the hoppiness. It packs a great big wallop of hops, but, like everything with this beer, that massive hoppiness is perfectly balanced. It’s not overly bitter or astringent or citrus peel-y. It’s just a huge, glorious hoppines. And as you’re enjoying a swig of that hoppy smoothness, there’s just the faintest hint of dankness in the background to cap things off.
As per usual, I’m sure my words don’t do it justice, but trust me: this is a stupendous beer.
I’ve come to expect excellent beers from Garage Project. They have a well-earned reputation as one of the best craft breweries in the antipodes. However, I’ll admit that I was previously ignorant of Trillium. But I did quick bit of research and had discussions with a few state-side craft beer afficionados. Turns out Trillium is an almost legendary purveyor of hoppy ales. So much so that I was actually a little embarrassed to not have heard of them previously.
Given the two breweries involved in crafting this masterpiece, it’s really no wonder Sunrise Valley Hazy IPA is so damn good. The only downside, is I’m afraid it’s going to be pretty damn hard to track down another.
