Beer of the Week! 08/02/22
Return to Reaver Beach!
Reaver Beach Hazy Tides
Regularly $15.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
New England Style IPA
Founded in 2010 by newlyweds Justin and Kristin MacDonald, Reaver Beach Brewing Company was VA Beach’s first craft brewery. (In contrast, Starr Hill Brewery was founded in 1999, so what were those VABeachers doing with themselves? Hey, it’s not a competition or anything. We’re just saying. ;P ) The MacDonalds are no longer in charge, but Reaver Beach is still alive and producing great brews. Although we’ve long been fans of Reaver Beach beers, there haven’t been many options locally. So, we’re excited to have two new Reaver Beach beers in the shop and to feature them.
The Hazy Tides is a New England Style IPA. We don’t know which hops they use, but Reaver Beach leaves just the tiniest bit of sweetness in the malt allowing the juiciness to come through. The taste is maybe like mangos or tangerines — one of us suggested dried apricot, and that was a good call.
However, the most notable taste is a slight saltiness lurking around the edges. It tastes like a bit of brininess or a flash of seaweed — like a whiff of the ocean coming in on the breeze. Rather than striking us as a sour note in the Hazy Tides symphony, it comes across as an extra note that makes the harmonies more rich and pleasing. The Hazy Tides feels either like an NEIPA with a Reaver Beach spin on it or like an example of an unconscious expression of Reaver Beach’s oceanside character.
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause when things taste good, you ask for seconds. Right?)
Reaver Beach Teredo (Blend #3) with Peaches and Blueberries
Regularly $16.99 / Now on Sale for $15.96
Berliner Weisse Style Ale with Peaches and Blueberries
Think of Berliner Weisse beers as German sours.
Originating in northern Germany, Berliner Weisse beers are wheat ales — usually unfiltered — that are soured with lactobacillus bacteria. Drinkers would then flavor these beers with syrups like Woodruff or raspberry. Today, American brewers make Berliner Weisse style beers with a variety of fruits in them, which is how we get to Reaver Beach’s Teredo series. A teredo is a mollusk with a healthy appetite for wood, but the Teredos are Berliner Weisse beers with a different duo of fruit in each iteration. Blend #3, this latest one, contains Peaches and Blueberries.
What it really contains is Reaver Beach’s healthy appetite for sour beers. Understand, Reaver Beach takes their sours very seriously. In that light, it is not a surprise that this beer is tart, tart, tart! A tart to your heart! Tart from the finish to the start! Don’t get us wrong; the peaches and blueberries are there; they just taste like wild blueberries and unripened peaches. Unlike many of the beers we’ve been featuring lately, we recommend drinking this one as cold as you care to make it!
If you’re looking to up your sour fruit beer game, Reaver Beach has you covered!
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!