Beer of the Week: Capt’n Surf

The IPA family tree has sprouted lots of new limbs over the past decade or so, but the trunk still splits into two main branches – West Coast and hazy. The latter hail from the Northeast U.S. and are, as one would expect, hazy, delivering fruity hop flavors and aromas sans hops’ trademark bitterness. Sometimes hazies are called “murky” or “juicy”, but we’ve got those semantics down. Meanwhile, West Coast IPAs are clearer with more defined bitterness in the finish. Sometimes they’re unfiltered, which is not the same as being hazy, murky or juicy. And thanks to our region’s refined fermentationists, there are San Diego-style IPAs, which are extra-dry and typically less bitter. That’s a lot to consider, but we are students of the style. We’ve got this…right? As with so many things in life, just when we mortals start feeling confident, thinking we’ve got the world – or at least the world of IPAs – figured out, here comes something new. In this case, it’s a hybrid called the “West Coast hazy IPA”, and exhibit A is this week’s featured beer, Capt’n Surf. The latest limited-edition collaboration beer from Coronado Brewing, it was cooked up with Santa Cruz’s Humble Sea Brewing, and hit shelves earlier this month. From the second this completely opaque, golden-hued beer hits the pint glass, its haze-bomb status is easily confirmed. So how can it also be “West Coast”? My answer would be: “It can’t.” But for the sake of explaining what breweries are going for with this oxymoronic terminology, I’ll play along. A West Coast hazy IPA puts the big bouquet and hop-borne citrus, tropical and stone-fruit flavors at the forefront without completely omitting their resinous bitterness. That’s not to say that said bitterness is a prime feature of the beer. Rather than wiping away the lovely Satsuma orange, peach and passionfruit I get in Capt’n Surf, its restrained bitterness merely serves to balance the beer out, leaving just enough bite (really more of a nip) behind to ready one for their next sip. Honestly, it’s a hazy IPA, but as someone who came up during the U.S. craft beer industry’s IBU (International Bittering Units, which are used to measure a beer’s degree of bitterness) wars, I appreciate that facet of a West Coast IPA and the fact hazy IPA brewers are looking to build it back into a style that, in my estimation at least, really benefits from it.

We had a blast brewing this one with our friends up at Humble Sea. Capt’n Surf is the kind of beer that just gets San Diego ‒ bright and a little bit dank in the best way. It’s a West Coast hazy that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still brings plenty of flavor. Big citrus, mellow haze and a 7% ABV (alcohol-by-volume) that makes it perfect for checking the surf, smokin’ meats in the backyard or wherever the weekend takes us. We’re stoked for everyone to get their hands on a four-pack.”

Aidan Kennedy, Marketing Director, Coronado Brewing

Coronado Brewing is located at 1205 Knoxville Street in Bay Park, and 170 Orange Avenue in Coronado