Seems like everywhere you look, there’s a new hazy pale/IPA/imperial IPA on the market; they’re what sells right now, and breweries are churning through recipes to try to find one or more stick. Most of the beer samples I’ve received of late include at least one hazy ale so there are a fair amount of hazy reviews coming up.

Case in point: Full Contact Imperial Hazy IPA from Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Company. It’s the imperial big brother to the brewery’s Contact Haze Hazy IPA (my review); the “Contact family” expanding this year will also include “Altered Contact (6.8% ABV), a Tart IPA which offers a refreshing alternative to the usually generous hop-forward flavors of the style.” The Trilogy Pack with all three should be available this month.

Elysian had sent me a six-pack of Full Contact to sample. The beer is 8.8% ABV with 60 IBUs; the website’s “tasting notes” section reads:

Cloaked in a semi-translucent haze, an imposing presence beckons you to come closer. As you do, your nose opens to a tangent of wistful memories — peach season in the orchard, a tangerine tree on a hill, fresh honeydew cold from the fridge, and a vanilla cream soda in your hand. What kind of bittersweet initiation is this?

It’s brewed with 2-row malt, and both malted and unmalted wheat. The hops listed are Centennial, Simcoe and Strata, “and more.”

Appearance: Golden yellow, with a moderate haziness (I can see through it), and a good, finely-laced white head.

Smell: Brightly aromatic with sweet citrus, lilacs, orange blossoms, cantaloupe, sweet grass. Neutral wheaty malt, with a touch of a spicy rye-like note.

Taste: Mellow flavor profile, with an herbal bitterness that’s green tea, melon rind, tobacco; then there’s light pineapple juice with citrus pith (but not the peel), white rice, wheatgrass. Fairly mild. No sense of the alcohol content at all, which can be dangerous.

Mouthfeel: Light of medium-bodied, pretty clean, well attenuated and dry finish, with lingering herbal greens.

Overall: I would have expected it to be hazier in profile, but it’s pretty mellow and really easy-drinking for its strength.