The sample for the day is representing the ubiquitous style of our time, Hazy IPA, now possible to judge against an objective description as found in the new released 2022 BJCP styles guidelines under style 21C.

The beer is presented in an English shouldered pint glass, showing a deep gold color, pronounced haziness, and a big creamy off-white head that holds together well.

The aroma has a pronounced citrus fruity nose of orange and lime and a hint of pineapple sweetness, some underlying estery-honey character and a light, grainy malt note. Overall fruity, a tad sweet, with a hint of acidic tartness, but lacking the bright fresh dry hop/juicy orange notes often associated with the style.

The flavor profile starts out light and malty sweet with some evident fruity notes, but much sweeter and less citrusy/tart than indicated in the nose. The mid-palate bitterness is seemingly quite low, with reemergence of the malt character (light bread/biscuit and richly sweet) mostly dominating the hop flavor (orange zest, peach, guava). The late flavor is long and full-bodied with some dance of late bitterness and hops, and an off-dry finish that seems overly sweet for the hopping rates. Creaminess, relatively low carbonation and the viscous mouthfeel contribute to the lush fullness. Overall, the flavor profile is slightly muddy and dulled, apparently from aging.

Overall this might not be a representative sample of the style, as it seems to lack the bright and fresh hop aroma and flavors found in the best/freshest samples. The style typically does not age well, and this one seems a little past its prime. Still, it is refreshing and clean, very fruity and pretty sweet in the finish. Given that balance, I would think it would pair with some piping hot Nashville hot chicken. At least that's what popped into my mind, and it sounds dang good.