Solarama Crush is a new, limited release from the Northeast Minneapolis-based 56 Brewing Company, a double dry-hopped IPA made with honey. On their website, the brewery notes their commitment to engaging their community by using locally sourced ingredients, local collaborations, local gardens, and more. They describe Solarama Crush thusly:

In true Garden to Growler fashion, Solarama Crush is the first of its kind, a double dry-hopped hazy American IPA made with honey harvested from apiaries on flowering solar farms and Kernza perennial grain. These special ingredients are paired with Citra, Loral, Zeus, and Enigma hops. Celebrate the fun future – pollinator friendly clean energy and a sustainable ecosystem.

Let’s give it a try.

Poured into a glass, Solarama Crush produces a rich, two-inch head that is slow to dissipate. The beer is a bright, hazy yellow. The nose presents an assertive and tantalizing note of candied grapefruit peel that likely draws from both the range of hops and the honey. On the palate Solarama Crush is more restrained with regards to both its use of hops and its inclusion of honey. Clocking in at a modest 30 IBU, the beer tastes more like a pale ale than an IPA. Similarly, the honey notes are quite subtle, offering a slightly sweet and rounded finish, but no cloying syrupiness. The result is a beer that doesn’t drink like an aggressively hopped IPA but is beautifully balanced between its hop notes and its honey tones.

7% abv.

B+ / $16 per 4-pack of 16 oz. cans / 56brewing.com

56 Brewing Solarama Crush

$16

8.5

Rating

8.5/10