As of this column, I have written about beer for Racket for two whole years. Not counting the beers I often mention in addition to the five I actually “feature” each month, and the many beers I try but don’t end up mentioning at all, I have reviewed 120 beers for this website. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a whole lot of beers, bro. Like, whoa.
And, over the last two years, I do believe I have done a decent job of not letting y’all on to the fact that I am, at my core, a basic bitch. My palate might qualify as refined, but I do not. Sure, I love stouts, and I've been known to praise festbiers and start wars about the best Minnesota adjunct lager from time to time. But if it weren’t for my hipstery contrarian ways pushing me to constantly drink different things, you know what I’d be drinking almost all the time? That’s right, hazy IPAs. If you ask me, they’re the best thing to happen to craft beer in the last 20 years. So, in celebration of two years of my silly jokes about barley beverages, here are the five best Minnesota hazy IPAs to drink year round according to me—the only certified doer of beers in all of Minnesota.
Elm Creek Brewing Co.: Sustained Illusion
Hazy IPA / 6.5% ABV / ?? IBU
Okay, so I have to start by saying, “Sustained Illusion” is an amazing name for a hazy IPA. What does it mean? Who knows. What’s the illusion in question? Is it a David Blaine street magic situation, or more like David Copperfield disappearing a plane? Is it particularly hard to sustain? Or is it like American soft power—able to be thrown away by the actions of a handful of short-sighted oligarchs in the span of a handful of months? These are the sorts of questions that keep me awake at night. That, and like, whether Criss Angel is still wandering around wearing vests without shirts. I like to think he is, but I refuse to look it up.
This Sustained Illusion is one of the best year-round hazy IPAs in Minnesota, and it’s the “youngest” beer on this list—with the others all at least a couple years older. In this way, it benefits from a certain maturing of the hazy IPA space where things opened up for a bit of experimentation—kind of like going off to college, but for hazy IPAs. Because of this, the citrus notes typical of hazy IPAs are accompanied by a fun white wine vibe and red currant flavor. Sustained Illusion is also very pillowy and smooth, with next to no bitterness. Champlin does some things right, I suppose—even if most of them come from Elm Creek Brewing.
Falling Knife Brewing Company: Verbal Tip
Hazy IPA / 7.3% ABV / ?? IBU
I don’t mean to be crass, but “Verbal Tip” sounds a bit like a maneuver you’d read about in Cosmopolitan while 16 years old and sitting on your bed in your parents’ house. And the beer’s can art, which includes a rather suggestive rendering of a royal scepter and a mouth, seems to play off this little innuendo, so don’t come at me like I’m being weird or anything. I will consider this a canon interpretation until directly corrected by a Falling Knife representative. Probably even after that, to be honest.
Verbal Tip has a strong citrus/grapefruit aroma with tropical undertones. Its flavor is very similar, with a slight piney note on the finish. It’s relatively lighter bodied and more effervescent than some hazies, but that’s not a complaint, I think it’s fun. It makes it easier to have another one.
Modist Brewing Co.: Dreamyard
Hazy IPA / 7.1% ABV / ?? IBU
The first sip I had of Dreamyard, I said, “Huh.” After the second sip, I said, “Yeah, OK.” With the third sip, I said, “Fuck, that’s good.” Modist's Dreamyard wasn’t what I expected from a hazy when I first had it so many years ago— I'd cut my teeth on tropical citrus bombs that taste more like fruit juice than beer and have the sweetness to back it up. Dreamyard is drier and has some resinous pine to it. That’s not to say Dreamyard isn’t approachable, just that it’s got more going on. You might say it’s “complex.” It smells like pine-tinged lemon zest, and its flavor is along the same lines with the addition of a bit of a pineapple note. It’s also more bitter than some other notable hazy IPA examples, and the bitterness builds a bit on the back of the tongue in a very classic IPA sort of way.
This North Loop-made hazy became a mainstay on my home kegerator during the pandemic—I’d pop down to Zipps Liquors and get a sixth barrel keg of Dreamyard (or Verbal Tip by Falling Knife, above) and then scurry on home. It was sort of a “a Dreamyard a day keeps the ‘rona away” situation. It was a whole thing. Better than hydroxychloroquine by far.
Fun fact: Dreamyard is also the best hazy IPA 12 pack you can find in Minnesota. Hands down. No competition.
BlackStack Brewing: Local 755
Hazy IPA / 6.8% ABV / ?? IBU
Anyone who thought I might make it through this list without gushing about Local 755 clearly knows nothing about the Minnesota brewing scene, and our Wonka-esque haze factory over at BlackStack. This St. Paul brewery puts out so many good hazy IPAs that I could feature one every month and feel like it was totally fair and justified. And Local 755, their flagship, is the perfect hazy for the masses. It’s no surprise BlackStack was a featured location in season 8 of Love Is Blind, and even less of a surprise that Sara apparently likes Local 755 a good bit. It is surprising that she liked Ben, though. What the heck was that? Sara, if you’re reading this, tell your sister and her partner that they seem cool, and please don’t date any more weird evangelical bros. That was painful to watch.
Where was I? Oh. Yeah. Cracking open a Local 755 is like opening up a portal to sweet tropical fruit and citrus heaven. It tastes like juicy lemon and orange with tropical fruit undertones. Its medium body and pillowy mouth feel make i( per my tasting notes) “sooooo easy to drink.” Like I said, a hazy for the masses.
Fair State Brewing Cooperative: Mirror Universe
“DDH” Hazy IPA / 7% ABV / 33 IBU
When it comes to Minnesota hazies, Mirror Universe was my first love. When my partner and I moved back to Minnesota after a decade in Denver, I was going through Juicy Bits withdrawal. *Pause for effect.* Juicy Bits, made by WeldWerks Brewing Co. out of Greeley, Colorado, was one of the “nationally noteworthy” hazy IPAs back then. It’s since gotten some limited distribution here (South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis often has it), but back then, I’m not sure it ever officially made it outside Colorado. So, standing in a liquor store in the 'burbs while staying with family, I was desperate for some sweet sweet fruity action. And wouldn’t you know it, Mirror Universe, from Fair State in Northeast, called out to me from behind the glass of the cooler, welcoming me back to Minnesota and telling me it could meet my needs and then some.
Mirror Universe is, to me, the quintessential hazy IPA. It's brewed with a healthy dose of oats and wheat, and double dry hopped (which is actually pretty standard on hazy IPAs) with a very common hop combo of Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado (the holy trinity of hazy IPA hops if you ask me). The result is something both routine and transcendent. It smells like floral lemon, with a light tropical fruit background. Its flavor is likewise balanced between citrus hop bite and tropical fruit, and the oats and wheat leave it medium-bodied and creamy. I’m incapable of saying no to a Mirror Universe—but like, in a good way, not in a “I have a problem” way.
