Category: News

If you’re a veteran fan of craft beer (and IPAs specifically), you might have a tough time explaining exactly why you’ve been vibing more with craft lagers, pilsners, and hazy IPAs as of late. Craft beer pros call it “hop fatigue” and it’s responsible for that cosmic force that draws longtime IPA aficionados towards beers with a much lighter hop flavor.

Simply put, “hop fatigue” is exactly what it sounds like. It’s your palate looking for a respite from the overly bitter, floral, piney flavor of hops. It prompts you to grab for more malt-forward lagers, crispy pilsners, and hazy, juicy, tropical fruit-centric New England-style IPAs. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are myriad beers and beer styles well-suited for anyone suffering from this hoppy ailment and looking for a change of pace.

Today, we turn out attention to the juicy, cloudy, fruity New England-style IPA specifically. If you’re suffering from hop fatigue but you’re not ready to give up on hops completely, this style of beer is a perfect choice. Some are so juicy they’re on par with drinking a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or mango juice and others have a nice mix of fruit, malt, even oats, and slightly bitter hops. Also, while there’s no wrong time to enjoy this complex, flavorful beer, this spring with its mix of cloudy, rainy days and warm, sunny days just might be the best. Keep scrolling to see eight of our favorite hazy brews for the hop fatigued.

Bissell Brothers Swish

ABV: 8%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack

The Beer:

This 8% Double IPA is brewed with Golden Promise malt, Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. It gets its added creamy, sweet flavor from the addition of Maine wheat. Made in the New England-style, it’s juicy, hazy, and doesn’t carry the hop bitterness of many other double IPAs.

Tasting Notes:

This beer has the aromas you’d hope from a New England-style IPA. The nose is all tropical fruit and tart, fresh citrus. It definitely draws you in. The palate continues this trend with notes of ripe pineapple, mango, tangerine, lemon curd, tart grapefruit, and juicy peach. While it’s obvious the hops are there, there isn’t much bitterness at all.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason Bissell Brothers Swish is one of the highest-rated New England-stye IPAs. It’s juicy, sweet, creamy, and should appeal to drinkers not looking for hop bittering.

Sloop Juice Bomb

ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

With a name like ‘Juice Bomb’, you certainly know what you’re getting with this beer. This 6.5% year-round New England-style IPA is well-known for its mix of low bitterness and juicy, hazy, tropical fruit and citrus flavor. It’s Sloop’s flagship beer for a reason and definitely deserves a spot in your cooler.

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of ripe peach, mango, tangerine, and grapefruit as well as some pine needles and caramel malts to tie everything together. Sipping it reveals more grapefruit, ripe pineapple, mango, guava, passionfruit, and slightly herbal hops and sweet oats. Little to no bitterness at the finish.

Bottom Line:

Its name might be Juice Bomb, but while it has an abundance of juicy, hazy flavor this beer is also well-rounded with a nice malt backbone and sweet oat notes.

Solace Juicy Lucy

ABV: 8%
Average Price: $16.50 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Similar to Sloop Juice Bomb, you have a pretty good idea about what’s inside this can before you pour it into your glass. This 8.5% double IPA is brewed with El Dorado, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops to give it a ton of ripe citrus flavor with very little bitterness.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of fruit esters, ripe peach, caramelized pineapple, and tangerines greet your nose. On the palate, you’ll find more peach and pineapple along with juicy orange, tangerine, slightly herbal pine, and biscuity malts. The finish is all juicy, slightly tart citrus with little bitterness.

Bottom Line:

This beer is called Juicy Lucy, but maybe it should have been called Citrus Explosion because that’s a better name for this juicy, slightly tart at times, citrus-fueled IPA.

Ommegang Neon Rainbows

ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $11.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Brewery Ommegang, situated near the town of Cooperstown in Central New York State is well-known for its traditional take on Belgian-style ales. But the brewery makes more than that. Its Neon Rainbows is a juicy, hazy, memorable New England-style IPA that’s brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial, Citra, and Topaz hops before being dry-hopped with even more Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, and Topaz hops.

Tasting Notes:

Dank pine, tart citrus, ripe tropical fruit, wet grass. The nose is everything you could want in a hazy IPA. One drink and you’re immersed in a world of ripe tangerine, juicy orange, grapefruit, guava, mango, honeydew melon, and sweet, caramel malts. While you can taste that there are hops throughout, they don’t add any bitterness to the juicy, fruity flavor.

Bottom Line:

This year-round New England-style IPA is all tropical juice flavor without any lingering hop bitterness. It’s a great entry into the hazy IPA style.

Tree House Julius

ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $5.50 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

One of the most well-known New England-style IPAs ever made, Tree House Julius is the Massachusetts brewery’s flagship beer. It’s known for its cloudy, hazy, juicy, creamy flavor highlighted by over-the-top tropical fruit flavors and herbal, earthy hops. It’s a true bucket-list IPA every beer fan should try.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, this beer is all citrus. There are fragrant aromas of grapefruit, ripe orange, tangerine, lemon zest, light, dank resin, mango, and guava. The flavor from the nose was carried into the palate with hints of juicy peach, ripe mango, passion fruit, tangerine, grapefruit, and orange. The finish is dry with little to no bitterness.

Bottom Line:

If you only drink one of these anti-bitter beers, make it Tree House Julius. There’s a reason this is one of the most sought-after IPAs. It’s a citrus bomb that needs to be tasted to be believed.

Almanac Love Hazy

ABV: 6.1%
Average Price: $13.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This complex hazy IPA is brewed with Pilsner malt and rolled oats. It’s dry-hopped with Sabro, Mosaic, and Citra hopped. The result is a complex, well-balanced New England-style IPA known for its bold, juicy tropical fruit flavors and tart, citrus notes.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a nice mix of pineapple, coconut, tangerine, dank resin, and sweet oats on this beer’s nose. Drinking it reveals flavors like honeydew melon, pineapple, grapefruit, coconut cream, tangerine, orange, lime zest, and slight pine resin without any of the expected bitterness. It’s creamy, sweet, and delicious.

Bottom Line:

This is a great example of a very hoppy beer that manages to pull out the fruity, citrus flavor and even some dankness without any of the hop bitterness we’re hoping to avoid.

Toppling Goliath King Sue

ABV: 7.8%
Average Price: $17.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

With a name like King Sue, you have to assume this will be hazy IPA royalty. And it is. This 7.8% double IPA gets all of its hop aroma and flavor from the liberal use of Citra hops. The result is a citrus-forward IPA that has more hop bitterness than the rest of the beers on this list, but it’s tempered by the juicy fruit flavor.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find notes of dank pine, ripe grapefruit, tangerine, caramelize pineapple, mango, and sweet caramel malts. Compared to the other hazy IPAs on this list, there is a decent amount of hop bitterness up front. The reason this beer won’t trigger any hop fatigue is the fact that, after the initial slight bitterness, there are notes of mango, pineapple, melon, tart grapefruit, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. It’s also mellowed by sweet oat and malt flavors.

Bottom Line:

Toppling Goliath King Sue is a great beer for fans of overly hoppy, bitter IPAs to slowly work their way down to less bitter, juicy IPAs.

Threes Logical Conclusion

ABV: 7%
Average Price: $19.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This complex, hazy IPA begins with a base of German pilsner malt, German malted wheat, and American wheat flakes, as well as Mosaic, Citra, and Simcoe hops. This results in a multi-faceted beer with bright floral hops, juicy tropical fruit flavors, and sweet wheat and oat notes.

Tasting Notes:

The is a great mix of caramel malts, honey-coated oatmeal, dank pine, ripe peach, tangerine, and mango. The palate continues this trend with hints of slightly bitter pine needles mellow by notes of apricot, tangerine, peach, pineapple, and a slightly herbal, floral flavor. All with a creamy, pleasing, pillowy mouthfeel.

Bottom Line:

Threes Logical Conclusion is another beer that still has some residual hop bitterness that’s paired with enough citrus, tropical fruit, malt, and oat flavors to make it one of many flavors and not overwhelming.

Prior to the end of 2021, it’d been a while since Cozz released a project. The wait for new work from him wasn’t all that grueling as he made several contributions to Dreamville’s 2019 compilation project, Revenge Of The Dreamers III. Thankfully, he made an official return back in December with Fortunate, an 7-track release that featured a lone contribution from YG. Fast forward to now and Cozz’s latest work comes through Dreamville’s new compilation project D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape.

One of his contributions to the project is “Big Trouble Freestyle,” which sees him rapping over The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya,” and less than two weeks after the project’s arrival, Cozz debuts a new video for the track. It captures him walking around his hometown of Los Angeles while firing off some scathing while flexing some heavy muscle about his career. He does it all while the West Coast sun sets behind him.

As for Dreamville’s D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape, the project includes appearances from the rest of the Dreamville cast, that being J.Cole, Ari Lennox, JID, Earthgang, Cozz, Bas, Lute, and Omen across the project’s 15 songs.

You can watch Cozz’s video for “Big Trouble Freestyle” above.

D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. You can stream it here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers tried to mount a fourth quarter comeback during their play-in game matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. While Brooklyn opened up a convincing lead in the first quarter and led by double-digits most oft he way, Cleveland was able to get it down to single digits off of a three by Darius Garland with less than 10 minutes remaining.

It was a five-point possession by Garland, although that was not necessarily for a good reason. Garland tried to drive to the rim when he saw he was matched up against Goran Dragic, and the veteran guard seemed to realize he was in some trouble. So instead of just letting Garland blow by him for a layup, Dragic stuck his right hand out and, uh, made contact with a sensitive area below the belt.

Dragic knew that he committed a foul, thus his throwing one arm up in the air, but what he probably didn’t expect was that the referees would go over to the monitor and take a look at this. After review, Dragic was hit with a flagrant 1, and because it took a minute and Garland got some time to compose himself after getting hit in the groin, he was able to cooly step up and knock down both free throws.

Tuesday brought some shocking news: Gilbert Gottfried, longtime comedian with arguably the most distinctive voice in showbiz, had died. He was 67. A post from Gottfried’s family kept things vague, only saying he had passed away from a “long illness.” But now, hours later, the cause of his death has been revealed.

As per Entertainment Weekly, Glenn Schwartz, Gottfried’s longtime friend and publicist, confirmed that he died of a rare genetic muscle disease that affects the heart called recurrent ventricular tachycardia, an arrhythmia caused by myotonic dystrophy type II.

The Rare Disease Database describes myotonic dystrophy type II as an “inherited muscular dystrophy that affects the muscles and other body systems (e.g., heart, eyes, and pancreas).” It involves “prolonged muscle tensing (myotonia) as well as muscle weakness, pain, and stiffness.” Ventricular tachycardia, meanwhile, is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a heart rhythm problem that makes the heart beat faster than 100 times a minute. (A healthy heart beats between 60 and 100.)

After news of Gottfried’s passing broke, tributes came pouring in. Many shared his countless stand-up, TV, and movie appearances, including that time he epically trolled contestants on Hollywood Squares in the late ‘90s, shouting “You fool!” over and over until he finally threw them a bone.

(Via EW)

Twitter users are sharing their soju stories after a viral video about the Korean spirit has taken off on TikTok. Posted by user CrownMeCutie, the video in question, which has been viewed more than 13 million times with 28k comments (and that’s after the OG video had been removed by TikTok), shows CrownMeCutie shopping at an Asian market when she stumbles upon a 12 oz bottle of fruit-flavored Joa Soju and remarks about its strong ABV content and small package.

After a cut and a drive home, CrownMeCutie pops open the bottle, gives it a good gulp, winces, and proclaims “ugh that’s liquor!” repeatedly, gifting TikTok users with one of the greatest soundbites to ever hit the app. Expect to hear this soundbite used throughout the year constantly, especially in videos that have nothing to do with liquor.

Soju, if you’re unfamiliar, is a clear distilled spirit made from rice, wheat, barley, or sometimes potato and often sweetened with fruit flavors like apple, plum, lychee, or other fruit flavors. We wouldn’t classify it as strong, but as CrownMeCutie says, “That’s liquor!”

Bottles of Soju typically hover around 20% ABV, making soju significantly weaker than your typical vodka and tequila but much much stronger than beer (which comes in a similar-sized 12 oz bottle) and wine. Because of its small package, people who are unfamiliar with the spirit tend to underestimate its ability to get you twisted, but most commonly, soju is served as more of a communal drink. The idea is to pour a few shots between friends from a single bottle and reach for another when it’s time for more or keep the buzz going by drinking the shot alongside a beer. That isn’t going to stop people from downing a bottle all by themselves though, and once the viral clip hit Twitter, users started to share their own Soju experiences.

Heed the advice below!

If you really want to elevate your Soju experience, don’t just drink it out of the bottle, invite some friends over and make some Soju Bombs as demonstrated by TikTok user Chanyoung1127.

For all the talk of “cancel culture” being a ruinous force, there doesn’t appear to be much proof that it exists. When this year’s Grammys were announced, some of the nominees included Dave Chappelle, scourge of the trans community, and Marilyn Manson, accused of sexual misconduct. Then there was Louis C.K. The comic and fallen TV god was one of the first men accused of misconduct when the #MeToo movement started in 2017. He even admitted to his crimes.

C.K. wound up winning that Grammy. Now, just over a week later, Julia Wolov, one of the five women who accused him of misconduct almost five years ago, has spoken out against his new trophy. The comedian, actress, and screenwriter spoke to Variety about his latest career turn, and she did not hold back.

“Nobody cares. That’s the message this sends,” Wolov told Variety. “It really does. That’s the truth.”

In the years since going public with her accusations, Wolov has come to regret that move, claiming she’s been labeled a “troublemaker” in the comedy scene.

“You sort of take that on, knowing that you might be able to help somebody else. That’s part of what makes you come forward, but it’s not fun. We took one for the team,” Wolov said. “Even talking to you right now, I know this will not work in my favor, but so many people are asking and it’s hard when he’s in the constant news cycle.”

Though the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, made changes to create a more diverse voting academy, its 12,000 members still voted to nominate C.K. then handed him a trophy, which he wasn’t there to accept.

“It’s such bulls*it. What is wrong with people?” Wolov told Variety. “Wouldn’t it be nice if people would not be rewarded for bad behavior? But what are you supposed to do? These people voted for him. I guess that’s what happens when comedy and music comes together.”

Wolov also poked further holes in the whole “cancel culture” mythos. “I know that he faced financial repercussions by losing his TV deals, but big deal. For him, I feel like he thinks that’s his god-given right to have these things, where most normal people would see it as a privilege to have that type of platform,” Wolov said. “I don’t believe in cancel culture, but obviously, Louis is not canceled. He seems fine to me. He’s touring. He’s selling out. He’s winning Grammys.”

(Via Variety)

Playboi Carti’s last project arrived on Christmas Day in 2020. It was highly anticipated Whole Lotta Red, a project that fans of the rapper spent quite a while waiting for. Constant delays and setbacks caused many to doubt that the project would ever arrive. Thankfully it did, and now, after a little over a year, it’s time to focus on Carti’s next body of work. During an interview with XXL, Carti revealed some details about his upcoming project and also opened up about his personal life.

“I was about to name my album Music because that’s where I’m at, you know what I’m saying? Music,” Carti said during the interview. When asked if he had a title for the upcoming project, Carti confirmed that it would be Music because “that’s all it is at this point.” Carti later revealed what topics were “important” for him to discuss on the project.

“Love. Sex. Drugs. Changes in my life,” he replied. “I’ve been rapping about going to rehab. I want to go to rehab because I think I’m bipolar. I want everybody to feel free. I want this album to make everyone feel free. I hope this album brings peace to the world, honestly.” He added, “I’m in love with what I’m doing. Like I told you, you can’t put a genre alternative [on me]. My little brother told me that all the time.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Carti took a moment to show love to Iggy Azalea, the mother of his first child Onyx. Despite their past issues, Carti had nothing but kind words for Azalea. “Iggy, she’s a great mom. I love her to death,” he said. “I’m single. She’s single now. But that’s one of the best mothers in the world. And that’s what you got to put in the book, you hear me? I love her to death. She is the best mother in the world.”

You can read the entirety of Carti’s new interview with XXL here.

Three years ago, Adam Sandler blew minds with Uncut Gems, an almost unbearably intense gambling thriller that teamed him up with Benny and Josh Safdie, who had previously made Robert Pattinson unrecognizable in Good Time. The star of Little Nicky and Blended got arguably the best reviews of his career. There was Oscar talk. When he was nominated, there was snub talk. And there’s a chance Sandler and the Safdies may try again.

As caught by The Playlist, buried in a new IndieWire report on actors, like Jim Carrey, struggling to find new and exciting auteurs to work with, is this claim: Sources say Sandler and the Safdies are “already cooking up another project.” New details are given. It’s not clear if it’s a film or a TV show, or whether Sandler would even be in it. (He could simply be a producer.)

Needless to say, it’s big if true. Sandler doesn’t venture far outside his Happy Madison bubble often. When he does, as with Paul Thomas Anderson’s bonkers Punch-Drunk Love, he tends to earn acclaim. Uncut Gems was his most extreme venture yet. He even almost got choked while shooting a particularly raucous scene. But if another Sandler-Safdies project winds up happening, please remember that it wouldn’t be the first time the three had reunited: You might recall that short film they made together not long after Uncut Gems first started blowing minds.

(Via IndieWire and The Playlist)

There’s no way to sugarcoat it; the planet is in crisis. Each day, we dump more and more plastic into our waterways. And scientists everywhere agree that if we don’t act now, the damage will be irreparable. But what does that actually mean for regular everyday people?

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When it comes to pollution and climate change, it’s easy to blame corporations or the government. But we also have to look inward. The choices we make in our everyday lives impact the world around us. If we want to make the world a better place, we all have to make better choices. Fortunately, some companies are working hard to help consumers make good choices. And one of the best is Grove Collaborative, an online retailer specializing in plastic-free, eco-friendly home products, including household cleaning, personal care, baby, kid, and pet products.

Why Grove Collaborative?

The term “eco-friendly” is used pretty loosely. But Grove Collective actually means it. The company specializes in healthy products made from non-toxic plant-based ingredients, and it only partners with producers that adhere to ethical and sustainable business practices. As a result, it only sells plastic-free or plastic-neutral products. And it’s committed to being 100-percent plastic-free by 2025.

Why does all that matter? It matters because, each year, only 9 percent of plastic gets recycled, while 6.4 billion tons are dumped into the ocean. It matters because toxins from conventional household products are getting into our waterways and wreaking havoc on our ecosystems. And it matters because studies have linked conventional household products to numerous health problems, including asthma and cancer.

At Grove Collaborative, they think we can stop all that. So if you’re looking for an easy way to do your part, you should check out some of the amazing home essentials they offer.

Refillable Deodorant Sets

We all want to smell good. Thanks to Grove Collaborative and a company called Peach, we can do so without toxic substances that cause cancer and without sending more plastic into oceans and landfills. Peach Refillable Deodorant Sets are available in four different natural fragrances, all of which come with a reusable metal case and an aluminum-free deodorant refill stick. When the stick runs out, all you have to do is pop a replacement into the container, and you’ll be fresh as a daisy without killing a single baby sea turtle.

Buy Refillable Deodorant Sets here.

Plastic-Free Soap

Almost all of the soap you buy at the supermarkets or big box stores come in a plastic container. But they don’t have to. All it takes to eliminate plastic is a little creativity. And Grove Collaborative offers a huge variety of plastic-free soap products, from zero plastic handwash powder to dish soaps in infinitely recyclable aluminum bottles. They even offer bars of solid shampoo. And they’re all certified to be ethically made, natural, and 100-percent effective.

Buy Plastic-Free Soaps here.

Antimicrobial Reusable Face Masks

The pandemic has been an absolute nightmare for the sustainability movement. In many cases, it’s forced people to choose between doing what’s best for their health and safety or doing what’s best for the planet. However, Grove Collaborative is doing its best to make things a little easier. They have a nice variety of reusable face masks made from three-ply organic cotton with an antimicrobial silver ion coating that lasts up to 40 washes—which means they are better for the environment and better for you.

Buy Antimicrobial Reusable Face Masks here.

Natural Lip Care Products

Just because you care about the planet, that doesn’t mean you can’t have gorgeous lips. Grove Collaborative has a wide array of sustainably produced cruelty-free lip products made from various natural, organic, and non-toxic ingredients. Many of these luxurious products, including the Lip-to-Lid Balmies Set, come in innovative no-plastic or zero-waste packaging. But for those that don’t, keep in mind that Grove is a plastic-neutral company. For every ounce of plastic you purchase, they collect and recycle the same amount of plastic pollution.

Buy Natural Lip Care Products here.

The prevailing logic in today’s political world is that polarization is worsening because people live in media echo chambers where they are only exposed to outlets that mirror their views.

People who live in echo chambers come to distrust any opinions that exist outside of their bubbles and when they’re not exposed to any conflicting information. This creates a scenario where the person becomes increasingly entrenched in their worldview.

One would assume that after a person becomes fully entrenched in an echo chamber they have little chance of changing their views. However, a new working paper by researchers at Stanford and Yale universities has found that when people are removed from their bubbles there’s a chance they’ll change their minds.

David Broockman of Stanford and Joshua Kalla of Yale conducted a study where they paid regular Fox News viewers $15 an hour to watch CNN for around seven hours a week for a month. The researchers then surveyed them about their political beliefs and knowledge of current events.

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The study is titled “The manifold effects of partisan media on viewers’ beliefs and attitudes: A field experiment with Fox News viewers.” The research was done in fall 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lead-up to the presidential election.

When the participants were polled, researchers found that they were 5 percentage points more likely to believe that people suffer from long COVID, 6 points more likely to believe that other countries did a better job of controlling the virus and 7 points more likely to support voting by mail.

“CNN provided extensive coverage of COVID-19, which included information about the severity of the COVID-19 crisis and poor aspects of Trump’s performance handling COVID-19. Fox News covered COVID-19 much less,” said the study.

​After the Fox viewers switched to CNN, it changed their opinions on the social justice protests happening at the time as well. The switchers were 10 points less likely to think that Biden supporters were happy when police got shot and 13 points less likely to believe that if Biden gets elected “we’ll see many more police get shot by Black Lives Matter activists.”

Many of the participants also realized that when it came to Trump, they weren’t getting the whole story. After switching to a steady diet of CNN they were less likely to agree that “if Donald Trump did something bad, Fox News would discuss it.”

“Despite regular Fox viewers being largely strong partisans, we found manifold effects of changing the slant of their media diets on their factual beliefs, attitudes, perceptions of issues’ importance, and overall political views,” the authors of the study said.

The study shows that Fox News isn’t just a media outlet that affirms its viewers’ worldviews, it also feeds them a distorted version of reality that pushes them toward more extreme opinions. The good news is that some of these people can be changed when exposed to better information.

It should also be noted that Fox News viewers aren’t the only ones living in information bubbles and that there are plenty of ideological traps that ensnare people on the left as well.

The study should give everyone hope that all is not lost and that America’s political divide may not be impossible to bridge.