Month: July 2022

During the summer months, many drinkers tend to gravitate towards light, refreshing lagers — a phenomenon that’s plainly obvious based on recent craft brewing trends. But if you’re anything like us, you don’t want to get tired of just one summer beer style. When it comes to a summer lager change-up, you’d be hard pressed to find a better choice than the hazy IPA.

Often referred to as New England-style IPAs, these juicy, hazy, tropical fruit, and citrus-filled beers are a great choice for lager and pilsner fans, because, like those light lagers, NEIPAs have little to no bitterness. Cloudy and juicy, with flavors like mango, guava, pineapple, and tangerine — what could be more appealing on a hot, humid summer day?

The best part? There are so many great hazy IPAs on the market, you can find great options almost anywhere. This is why today, we decided to rank eight of our favorite easy-to-find hazy IPAs.

8) New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze

ABV: 7.5%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

The New Belgium Voodoo Ranger line of beer is fairly well-known in the American beer landscape and in our opinion, the best version is its Juicy Haze. This 7.5% ABV New England-style IPA is brewed with American hefeweizen yeast, Pale, wheat, and C-80 malts, as well as oats. It’s hopped with Citra, Cascade, Simcoe, Centennial, and Nugget hops.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is surprisingly sweet with a ton of tropical fruit notes, wet grass, and some citrus. Thar’s about it. The palate is cloyingly sweet with mango, guava, and pineapple taking center stage. This is definitely not a bad beer, it’s just that it tastes more like candy than beer. The fruity flavor is about as subtle as Gallagher wielding a sledgehammer.

Bottom Line:

Hazy IPAs are known for their juicy, fruity flavor. This one takes it to a tooth-achingly new level. It’s just a little too sweet for us.

7) Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing

ABV: 6.7%

Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

There are few hazy IPAs as well known and highly regarded as Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing. But is it really as great as some drinkers think or is it simply popular because it’s available everywhere? This 6,7% ABV easy-drinking IPA is brewed with Two-row Pale and Munich malts, as well as oats and wheat. It’s hopped with Citra, Magnum, Simcoe, Comet, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is surprisingly bland with aromas of floral hops, pineapple, and grapefruit, and that’s really about it. We tried to find more, but there just wasn’t a lot going on. The palate didn’t even add to the experience. There were flavors of tangerine, some mango, and a hint of floral hops. But overall, this was a fairly bland, disappointing beer.

Bottom Line:

We had high hopes for Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing because it constantly makes list of “best hazy IPAs.” It’s not a horrible beer, it’s just boring and not very memorable.

6) Elysian Contact Haze

ABV: 6%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 6%, mildly hazy, lightly bitter New England-style IPA is brewed with oat malt, Pale ale malt, flaked barley, as well as El Dorado, Southern Passion, Sabro, Mosaic, Sultana, and Citra hops. It’s known for its bold berry, citrus, and tropical fruit flavors.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, I found more dank aromas than expected in a hazy IPA. Slight pine resin, grapefruit, orange, mango, and passion fruit are also present. Sipping it reveals more mango, guava, and pineapple as well as a bit of malt and spicier, slightly bitter, piney hops. It’s a little more on the bitter side than I’d prefer in a hazy IPA.

Bottom Line:

Elysian Contact Haze is a fairly well-balanced hazy IPA with a nice mix of fruit, malts, and hops. It’s just a little too piney and bitter for my liking.

5) Two Roads Two Juicy

ABV: 8.2%

Average Price: $15.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Two Roads Two Juicy, shouldn’t it be Two Roads Too Juicy? Discuss. Anyway, this cloudy, unfiltered New England-style IPA is known for its use of Mandarina, Bavaria, and Hallertau Blanc hops.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is dominated by citrus — tangerine, grapefruit, and lemon zest. It’s followed by slight pine and some light tropical fruit notes, but not much else. The palate has more pine resin and floral, Noble hops that pair well with the citrus and tropical fruit flavors. Overall, this is a beer for hazy IPA fans that want just a kiss of floral, spicy hops.

Bottom Line:

The addition of German hops gives this hazy IPA a unique flavor profile that you won’t find in many other New England-style IPAs. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great gateway between classic German lagers and American hazy IPAs. If that’s not for you, move on.

4) Firestone Walker Mind Haze

ABV: 6.2%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 6.2% ABV New England-style IPA has a surprisingly complex recipe. It’s brewed with 2-Row and Munich malts as well as torrified wheat, and oats. It gets its citrus and tropical fruit flavors from being kettle hopped with Mandarina and Cascade hops and dry-hopped with Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic, Chinook, Cashmere, Callista, and Idaho 7 hops.

Tasting Notes:

A mix of citrus zest, earthy, herbal hops, fresh-cut grass, and tropical fruit aromas meet your nose before the first sip. The palate is as sweet and juicy as you’d expect from a New England-style IPA. There are also notes of bready malts, tangerine, mango, passion fruit, grapefruit, and light, floral hops at the very finish.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-rounded hazy IPAs you can find anywhere, it’s tough to beat Firestone Walker Mind Haze. It has everything juicy, hazy IPA fans could want, along with a nice hit of malts and floral hops.

3) Sloop Juice Bomb

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Sloop’s flagship IPA is referred to as a “northeastern” IPA likely because it’s brewed in New York, but we know what it really is (a New England-style IPA). It’s known for its mix of citrus fruits, tropical fruits, and American hops.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of tangerine, orange zest, mango, pineapple, caramel malts, and slightly resinous pine greet your nose before your first sip. The palate is a nice mix of herbal, floral hops with little to no bitterness, juicy pineapple, ripe mango, tangerine, and sweet wheat. Overall, based on its name, it’s surprisingly well-balanced.

Bottom Line:

Sure, this IPA is a “juice bomb,” like it says in the name, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a complex, perfectly balanced New England-style IPA that ticks all of the hazy beer boxes.

2) Deschutes Fresh Haze

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Deschutes is the kind of brewery that only makes great beers. In my opinion, one of the best is its Fresh Haze. It’s brewed with 2-row and Crystal malts as well as wheat and flaked oats. It gets its bold, citrus and tropical fruit flavor from the addition of Amarillo, Cashmere, Mandarina Bavaria, and Bravo hops.

Tasting Notes:

Orange zest, tangerine, lime, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and flaked oats are prevalent on the nose. The flavor is very citrus-centric with tangerine juice, lime zest, and grapefruit making an appearance along with caramel malts, and flaked oats. There’s also some earthy wet grass, but not much in terms of hop bittering and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-balanced, citrus-centric hazy IPAs, Deschutes Fresh Haze is one of the best. Flaked oats add sweet, flavorful depth to the juicy beer.

1) Ommegang Neon Rainbows

ABV: 6.6%

Average Price: $11.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Ommegang Neon Rainbows is a year-round offering from the Cooperstown, New York-based brewery. Best enjoyed during the humid summer months, it’s brewed with London ale yeast. It gets its bold, juicy flavor from Mosiac, Simcoe, Topaz, and Centennial hops in the kettle, and dry-hopping with Simcoe, Citra, Topaz, and Mosaic hops.

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. Grapefruit, mango, guava, papaya, pine tar, wet grass, and a ton of citrus. The palate is a nice mix of pine, tropical fruit sweetness, and tart citrus. There are also notes of ripe berry, grapefruit, pineapple, fresh-cut grass, and floral subtly bitter hops. Overall, a very well-balanced flavor experience.

Bottom Line:

Ommegang Neon Rainbows is so complex and flavorful, it’s the kind of IPA that needs to be enjoyed multiple times in order to find all of the flavors.

Looking to fill The Righteous Gemstones-sized hole in your heart? Then you should check out the trailer for Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.. The mockumentary from writer and director Adamma Ebo stars Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown as the leaders of a mega-church who try to regain what they’ve lost following a scandal.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. was one of the 10 best movies we saw at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. “Honestly, I can’t say enough about Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown. These are both remarkable performances that thread that line between over-the-top and pitiful, with a touch of empathy,” critic Mike Ryan raved in his review.

You can watch the trailer above. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a satirical comedy starring Regina Hall as Trinitie Childs – the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, who together with her husband Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), once served a congregation in the tens of thousands. But after a scandal forces their church to temporarily close, Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must reopen their church and rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. hits theaters and Peacock on September 2.

If Anson Williams looks familiar to you, it’s probably because he spent 10 years playing Warren “Potsie” Weber, BFF to Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham, on Happy Days. While he has continued to pop up in movies and TV shows since the beloved sitcom ended its decade-long run in 1984, and has regularly reprised his breakout role, Williams has spent the better part of the past 30-something years directing episodes of such popular television series as L.A. Law, Xena: Warrior Princess, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Melrose Place, and The Secret Life of an American Teenager. But now he’s looking to forge a political path.

As People reports, Williams has announced his candidacy for mayor of Ojai, California, the coastal town he calls home, which is located about 30 miles east of Santa Barbara. Anson was in attendance at a city council meeting on June 28, during which he stated that Ojai was in need of “leadership that inspires a collaborative team.” The former actor is apparently not seeing that in Betsy Stix, Ojai’s current mayor, who Williams will be squaring off against.

While Williams has until July 18th to file all the formal paperwork to declare his candidacy, his representative assured People that it will be completed soon. Even now though, Williams has got one voter squarely in his corner: fellow Happy Days alum Henry Winkler, a.k.a. The Fonz, who is ready to tell Stix to “sit on it.”

(Via People)

The U.K. government has had an eventful (to say the least) week, and actor/director/British man Kenneth Branagh will not be acting it out.

Branagh is starring as the soon-to-be-former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Sky drama series This England (originally titled This Sceptered Isle). This England follows Johnson and his government amid the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, only months into his leadership. In 2020, Johnson caught the virus and was hospitalized. The show is currently in post-production.

Variety reports that the series will not be adding any additional scenes that cover Johnson quitting as PM this week. Johnson’s resignation followed the sudden resignation of Cabinet Members and politicians in his party. “Of course, it is painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects,” Johnson said in front of 10 Downing Street in London, per NPR. “But as we have seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.” Sky released a teaser for the series back in May, and Branagh looks unrecognizable as Johnson.

“The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered forever,” This England creator Michael Winterbottom said about the show in January 2021. “A time when the country came together to battle an invisible enemy. A time when people were more aware than ever of the importance of community. Our series weaves together countless true stories — from Boris Johnson in Number 10 to front line workers around the country — chronicling the efforts of scientists, doctors, care home workers and policy makers to protect us from the virus.”

This England does not have a release date but is expected to premiere in the fall.

(Via Variety)

The new season of Stranger Things is really putting young fans onto some quality ’80s music they probably would have otherwise never heard. Of course, there’s Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” but Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” had a major moment of its own in the season finale, which has generated a renewed interest in the group. Metallica is super supportive of this and won’t stand for gatekeepers trying to delegitimize Stranger Things fans who have come to enjoy them.

The band recently shared a live performance clip of “Master Of Puppets” on TikTok and as Billboard notes, one commenter wrote, “I’m sorry Metallica for all the fake Stranger Things fans love ya.” The group wasn’t having that, as they responded, “Don’t be sorry. Everyone is welcome in the Metallica Family. If they like ‘Puppets,’ chances are they’ll find plenty of other songs to get into.”

They later added in another pair of comments, “FYI – EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. Whether you’ve been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years, we all share a bond through music. All of you started at ground zero at one point in time.”

No matter how long you’ve been into Metallica, check out “Master Of Puppets” below.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try invading another country. That seems to be the strategy that Vyacheslav Volodin, Russia’s lower house speaker and a top goon of Vladimir Putin, would like to employ as the country struggles in the war it started with Ukraine.

As The Daily Beast reports, Volodin—tired of seeing America interfere and help Ukraine by seizing Russian assets—threatened that if our country keeps it up, Russian soldiers might just want to come and try to take back the state of Alaska, which the U.S. purchased from Russia in 1867. (Quick—someone alert Sarah Palin!)

“Let America always remember, there is a part of [Russian] territory: Alaska,” Volodin said, according to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske. “So when they start trying to dispose of our resources abroad, before they do it, let them think: we also have something to return.”

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, even seemed to imply that a nuclear attack could be on the table if America isn’t careful. “The entire U.S. history since the times of subjugation of the native Indian population represents a series of bloody wars,” Medvedev said. “The U.S. and its useless stooges should remember the words of the Bible: Do not judge and you will not be judged… so that the great day of His wrath doesn’t come to their home one day.”

But according to Steven Pifer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, there’s no reason for Americans to panic. “This is not a serious person,” Pifer said of Volodin.

While Russia did just managed to seize Luhansk, a city in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are falling apart in many other places. As Shannon Vavra wrote for The Daily Beast:

In recent hours, Russian forces haven’t been up to the task of fighting war in Ukraine, necessarily. Some Russian troops are so drunk in regions of Zaporizhzhia—and causing car accidents and arms violations—that they are banned from buying alcohol. Some Russians are worried their commanders have been selling out their locations to make a buck or two.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Are you a friend of Martha Stewart‘s who’s maybe seen her looking at your husband? You might want to sit down for this. The culinary guru recently stopped by Chelsea Handler‘s podcast where she opened up about trying to get back into dating. Turns out, Stewart has developed a two recent crushes, but there’s just one small problem: One of the men is married to her friend.

Apparently, this is a recurring problem for Stewart, which has led the meticulous lifestyle maven to have some pretty dark thoughts. When Chandler brought up that it’s tempting to hope that maybe the person’s current relationship is just “temporary,” Stewart took things to a whole other level. Via Mediaite:

“Or maybe they’ll die,” Stewart said bluntly. “I always think, oh gosh, couldn’t that person just die.”

“The wife?” Handler asked.

“Yeah! Not — not painfully,” Stewart clarified. “Just die … But it, it hasn’t worked out.”

While Stewart may fantasize about her friends kicking the bucket so she can steal their husbands, one thing she would never do is intentionally ruin a marriage. “I’ve never been a home wrecker,” Stewart said. “I’ve tried really hard not to be. I’ve had the opportunity to be a home wrecker and I have not taken anybody up on it.”

Unfortunately, Stewart’s main source of meeting potential suitors is when they’re already attached. “That’s where I meet men,” she admitted. “They’re all married to friends of mine or something like that.”

Welcome to every one of Martha’s friends never eating her cooking again. Is her pecan pie really worth risking a trip to the morgue? No, seriously, we’re asking. It’s probably pretty good, right?

(Via Mediaite)

This past May, Sharon Van Etten released We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, an album centered around being resilient in the face of modern life’s perils, acknowledging what’s broken and being mindful in putting things back together. Now in the new video for album standout “Headspace,” Van Etten tackles how the dynamics of sex and domesticity in a relationship have changed in the increasingly digital post-pandemic era.

In the video, Van Etten is a medium of sorts, as a couple does an interpretive dance number to illustrate shifting bedroom dynamics. The song’s industrial production pulse — which isn’t a far cry from something you’d hear on a Nine Inch Nails album — adds to the tension as Van Etten and the dancers navigate through their internal conflict.

“When I was writing this song, I wanted to talk about domesticity and intimacy frustrations under the tensions of working at home and seeking connection while being tied to our devices and still trying to reach each other as lovers, parents, humans…,” Van Etten said in a statement. “Reminding each other that there is still a primal attraction even in the midst of the mundane and repetition of everyday life.”

Watch the video for “Headspace” above and check out Van Etten’s tour dates with Angel Olsen and Julien Baker here.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is out now via Jagjaguwar. Listen to it here.

John Legend and Muni Long get sticky in the suggestive video for their new collaboration “Honey,” oozing sensuality in every frame. The video opens with John Legend waking up on the floor in an elegantly appointed but utterly wrecked music room amid the remains of the last night’s festivities. As he takes in the devastation, he notices honey dripping from beneath a framed portrait of Muni Long, peeling away the wallpaper to reveal a honeycomb and a hole in the wall, through which he watches the real Muni luxuriate in a bathtub full of, you guessed it, honey.

The song is John Legend’s second single of the year, following the groovy, upbeat “Dope,” which also features a rising artist in Atlanta tongue twister JID. It would seem that both singles are paving the way for Legend to release a follow-up to his 2020 album Bigger Love at some point. Legend recently wrapped up his 2021 tour for that album and as the consummate entertainer, doesn’t seem to be waiting around to unleash a new collection of loverly R&B tunes on the world.

Muni Long, meanwhile, is experiencing quite the breakout herself, garnering plenty of attention for her viral single “Hrs And Hrs” after it jumped from TikTok virality to the Billboard Hot 100. She’s also planning to release a project this year, a sequel to her star-making 2021 release Public Displays Of Affection.

Watch John Legend’s video for “Honey” featuring Muni Long above.

Last month, indie weirdos The 1975 sent postcards to fans to reveal the tracklist of their new album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. Today, the promising first single “Part Of The Band” is out, whose funny lyrics were revealed a little while ago and intrigued many: “I like my men like I like my coffee / Full of soy milk and so sweet, it won’t offend anybody.”

The entire song is full of notable, witty lines like above, including, “Am I ironically woke? The butt of my joke? / Or am I just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke / Calling his ego imagination?” The song sounds folkier than the rest of their music, which is usually more electric and synthy. It shows a new direction for the band.

This album will follow their short hiatus, as they appeared on 2021 song “Spinning” alongside No Rome and Charli XCX, which was later remixed multiple times by AG Cook. Their last full-length was 2020’s 22-song Notes On A Conditional Form, which debuted atop the UK Albums chart, selling 34,000 album-equivalent units whereas, in the United States, it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 54,000 album-equivalent units sold.

Listen to “Part Of The Band” above.

Being Funny In A Foreign Language is out 10/14 via Dirty Hit.