Surreal Brewing, a first-time feature on Happy Every Hour, comes to us from Campbell, California, and brings some of its West Coast styles this week. In addition to the brew we’ll be reviewing today, Surreal brewing has many other beers available both in stores and directs shipped from their website. They’ve been perfecting recipes for three years now and are the only brewery I know of to offer a non-alcoholic Milkshake IPA. Check them out and try their gold-medal-winning Chandelier Red IPA.
This week we are diving into the sunshine and stars with Surreal Brewing and their Creatives IPA. It’s a west coast IPA, which translates into a balance of hops and fruity flavors for most beers, so we’ll see if this is any different. They make sure to note that this beer is unique because it is brewed with ancient Norwegian Kveik yeast, which I am unfamiliar with and struggling to pronounce.
How Does It Pour?
Right off the top, you get light aromas of hops and citrus. Nothing too over-powering, but one whiff, and you know you opened up a beer. Surreal Brewing is delivering on its promises so far. As you let the crisp white head brush your creepy mustache, you can begin to taste the flavors of citrus and hops right away on your tongue. Surreal Brewing does a great job of giving you the flavors you have come to expect with a west coast IPA, but in a nice balanced way, though the grapefruit stands out.
How Does It Taste?
The biggest surprise in this brew is its light mouthfeel. It’s not too filling. Surreal Brewing makes it easy to knock back a few of these without feeling too full or bloated. Nice light and crisp flavors matched by a nice light and crisp body, and boy, do I love a nice light and crisp body (see: California beaches).
Untappd gives this brew a 3.2 out of 5, and I give it a hang ten out of tubular, dude! Surreal Brewing is a great place to check out a wide variety of IPAs that are done right and almost always light. I went through a phase where I was ordering them a lot, and this beer has reminded me to start doing that again!
HOPPY EVERY HOUR (See what we did there?) NA Beers & 90s Nostalgia: Justin Lamb is dedicated to tasting great (and sometimes not so great) NA beers and showcasing his amazing collection of memorabilia from the ’90s. If you are or aspire to be an NA Beer snob, then you must check out the curated selection of reviews that Justin has been building over the last several months.
RECOVERY PODCASTLAND: Want more Justin in your life? We don’t blame you! Check out his podcast Friend Request Justin has in-depth interviews with people he follows on social media, as well as his own social media followers. Friend Request dives deeper than the likes and comments. With each episode, Justin tries to create a more meaningful conversation about each individual he’s connected with. Justin ties each interview together with the commonalities and struggles that not only are extremely relatable but also fall across the entire spectrum of the human experience.
