Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby is a 6% New England IPA (NEIPA) from Hitachino Nest. It’s just been brewed as of October 2018, and time is absolutely of the essence with NEIPAs, so get in there quick.
Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby Aroma and Taste
Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby poured out a thick, cloudy apple juice colour with a big fluffy off-white head. My photo doesn’t quite do it justice- it wasn’t as murky-looking as it appears in the picture. I had two cans of this and oddly, both times I went back to top up the glass with the last drop it would come flying out of the can and miss the glass entirely. My son thought it was hilarious, though.
It says “IPA” in the name, but if you’re expecting it to taste like one then, well, where have you been? Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby has a very sweet, tropical, juicy (there, I said it) nose, although I was able to detect some piney and resinous hops in there too. The mouthfeel is very smooth and sweet as well. It really was like drinking mango juice. The aftertaste was bitter from the hops and as the beer warmed up it became more prominent. There was also an estery, spicy edge to the flavour too.
Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby The Bottom Line
I liked this one! These new styles are very divisive but I’m all for pushing the envelope. Throw the Reinheitsgebot on the fire, I say! Embrace change! Love the juice! Ride a bicycle off a cliff! Post a trout to your grandmother! Nothing matters! It’s only a drink and you only live once!
Where to Buy Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby
Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby Second Opinion
I’m going to be brutally honest here – I didn’t like Brewbase Crazy Hazy Baby. Not that because it’s an NE-IPA, but because it isn’t a GOOD NE-IPA. The flavours were muted and felt like someone had just dipped in a bag of hops for a bit, rather than actually letting them steep. It also looked like a half-arse attempt at making an NE-IPA as well – a turbid dark orange brown, rather than the brighter, orange juice-like ones we’ve seen from Shiga Kogen and AJB.
