Boulder Beer Hazed & Infused

Brewed by Boulder Beer Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

I love to dry-hop and use whole flower Willamettes in my homebrews. I wished I had kept this beer in the bottle, as it concentrates the singular hop aroma. It was more subtle than I had anticipated, but nice. I can take this beer or leave it. There are IPA’s out there with much more hop aroma. Nice hazy appearance, like it claimed.

Amber/orange type color. Nice thick head. Good lacing. Some orange peel and honey in the aroma. Bittersweet. Some bitter citrus and sweet honey. Full bodied. Very good but not great.

I am a huge fan of crystal hops and was excited about trying this beer, but it was disapointing. too much tea like character and too grassy for my tastes

Not an incredibly hoppy ale, but the blend of hops makes up for a simple IBU count. A good example of how to dry hop beer.

I may have grown up during all of the 80s and some of the 90s, but when it comes to music my heart definitely lies in the eras of yesteryear. The 50s, 60s, 70s, and some of the 80s produced what is still to this day some of the best music ever written. Artists today may try to emulate, copy, or break away from the mold, but usually only end up doing so temporarily or don’t even try and instead sell themselves out to the sudden and very temperamental musical trends. Long gone are the days of originality. Edge, creativity, fearless endeavors, and just plain-old crazy drug induced music. I don’t mean it as an endorsement for drug use and abuse, but the best music ever written was written under the influence of some kind of drug, legal or not, and that hasn’t changed for centuries. The large majority of our classical geniuses had none-too-healthy vices which lent to and at times hindered their inspiration. All of this brings me to the Boulder Brewing Company and their looking glass series of beer, specifically today the Hazed and Infused, a dry-hopped ale of psychedelically divine inspirations.
On draft at a local haunt, I savored her dark copper and cloudy ruby hues as my glass was set down in front of me. A nice and vibrant layer of foam graced her surface as if to taunt and tease me as to the secrets hidden within. Her nose is a sensory assault of crisp squeezed lemons, juicy sweet apricots and nectarines with a finishing touch of fresh cut grass and pine. A very crisp, bright, and almost tingling nose which grabs my attention and doesn’t let go, even during innumerable quaffs. Nicely carbonated which isn’t surprising since she is draft, her mouthfeel is dry with crisp lemon, pine, and grassy hops throughout. Not overpowering like an IPA, but instead giving the Hazed and Infused a vibrancy which is balanced by light oily notes and a succulent palate of fresh peaches, nectarines, and fresh toasted malts. A divine combination, their balance is virtually perfect, so perfect she is bound to induce delusions of unworthiness and worship. Way too quickly I near the end of my glass and bid farewell. She was clean and smooth, sweet with fruits, warm and toasty with malts, and crisply vibrant with fresh hop notes. A very quaffable brew which has definitely turned me onto dry-hopped ales.
I’ve had a few of Boulder Brewing’s brews over the last year or so, and I can say without a doubt that their Hazed and Infused is the best out of the bunch, so far. I was very unaware and ignorant of the dry-hopped ale style up until now, and I can say with no uncertainty that she has definitely risen to the top of my beerdar.

Pours a hazy, amber-copper color with a full, off-white, creamy, rocky head which is mostly lasting and leaves nice, drippy but sporadic lace. Nose is hoppy…; lots of citrus (orange peel and apricot), light pine bark, and spice noted right away. Underneath is some grassy, minty, even floral notes and faint toasted caramel. Flavor is a bit of a let down with lots of the earthy pine bark notes; under that is some toasted, almost smoky notes, light orange citrus, maybe some minty notes into the finish. Bitterness is medium but seems more at times due to the lack of malt presence. Palate is medium, oily, nearly lively, and lightly dry. Finishes average length with some drying notes of pine bark, dry grass, and hints at mint and orange. A wonderful aroma from the dry-hopping and other hops with so many hop notes filling the nose. The beer does lack a bit of balance with the only malt notes disappearing quickly. A good dry-hopped pale ale.

Rock Bottom’s on-tap version of this subsidiary’s bottled version. Hop aroma. High bitterness, and carbonation. Above average mouthfeel. Your core IPA, and Minny is a hop town, and those people will drink more of this than I would. Try it, and food conserves the palate.
Earlier Rating: 1/6/2005 Total Score: 3.8
Nice appearance with bubbles. Good hops, clean and crisp. Great floral pine aroma from hops. Very drinkable smoothness,

From a sampler on 10/17/08 at the Minneapolis airport. Cloudy amber in appearance with a hint of grapefruit on the nose. Taste was dry and slightly bitter with a hint of pine. Pretty mellow for an IPA. Drinkable.
Earlier Rating: 7/12/2007 Total Score: 3
12 ounce bottle. Shaker glass. Cloudy orangish brown with a thin tan head. Aroma was floral hops, grapefruit and maybe some orange peel. The taste was a big blast of pine hops up front and fairly bitter. The bitterness becomes even more apparent as it warms. Mouthfeel was a bit thin. Not really what I’m looking for.