I hinted that it was coming – sort of.  While I might have let you know that there have been a couple beers in the works from Rhinegeist, the idea of a continuing series surprised me more than it probably should have.

Rhinegeist has been experimenting with the idea of hazy, or NE IPAs for a while now.  They’ve even got a few releases under their belt with the style.  It’s time for them to enter the game and kick off a series of haze that will hopefully meet the growing demand of craft beer fans for the “new” style.

The whole thing kicks off this week on Friday, August 10th in the Rhinegeist taproom with their first release!

Feeling Good

The first four pack to drop in the series is one you might be familiar with.  Rhinegeist collaborated with their friends from Castle Island to release this beer a while back.  With a few recipe tweaks (This one is 7% vs the original’s 8.5% ABV) the beer was so delicious that it only makes sense to make it the first in the series.

The beer is hopped up with Amarillo, Idaho 7 and Citra hops to create a delicious piney, citrusy hop smack that lingers on your tongue without a bitter bite.

Rhinegeist is releasing it in four packs of 16oz cans in their taproom on Friday – and they’re limiting it at two four packs per person.  You will want to keep your eyes peeled at your favorite bottle shops because while this will see a little bit of distribution, it’s going to be very limited, and not a big amount of it.  These beers are meant to be drank fresh – so don’t expect to see it sitting around for very long!

However… if you’re into the idea of this as a series there are definitely more coming!

Coming Up In The Hazy Series

The brewery hasn’t said how often the series will get a release, and while label approvals are just hinting at what might come, we’ve already seen a couple of them that might show us what is coming down the pike.

Ain’t No Tang

While ‘Ain’t No Tang’ is not a NE IPA, I think it’s important ot note that Rhinegeist isn’t calling this a NE IPA series, they’re calling it their hazy series.  A tart ipa might just fit into that very nicely.

The beer is a collaboration with Green Cheek Beer Co – and is a sour IPA with Guava, Orange and Lactose.  It comes in at 7.5% and uses Citra and Galaxy hops.  The label is for a pint can, that definitely uses some of the same design elements as Feeling Good does – with bright colors and that familiar ‘wave’ pattern in the background.

Alpha Squid

Just like Feeling Good – This is a NE IPA through and through.  The colors on the label are bright and tropical, using a yellow to orange wave pattern to showcase a bold, orange forward character that people fell in love with when it was first put on draft in the early summer.

Coming in at a robust 8.2%, Rhinegeist isn’t messing around with this beer, which uses a blend of Denali, Chinook, Sabro and Vic Secret hops to give it it’s character.