Yazoo Brewing Company - Hopry

This appropriately named, Nashville-brewed hazy IPA presents a super hazy orange color in the glass with a big topping of just off-white foam that leaves sheets of lace as we drink it down. On the nose, look for a very juicy character from this double dry-hopped IPA, with layers of citrus evoking orange and grapefruit, along with softer tropical fruit and flora. On the palate, this is a quintessential hazy IPA as the mouthfeel is lushly textured and satisfying, while those juicy hop notes keep our attention in the flavor. Hop bitterness comes across as moderate, providing a satisfying bite to play foil to the fruity and floral tones while – in typical hazy IPA fashion – remaining a bit less intense than many other American IPA styles. For pairing options, orange chicken should match well, along with Asian salads, and grilled chicken or fish with citrus. Cheers!

Yazoo Brewing Co.’s founder and brewer, Linus Hall, got his brewing start in a familiar fashion, purchasing a homebrewing kit from an ad in the back pages of Rolling Stone back in 1993. Linus was, as he phrased it, “a cash-poor college student living in an old farmhouse in Virginia, and brewing my own beer seemed a little less illegal than the pot-growing operation my other housemates were involved in.” We’re typing this from California; we get where he’s coming from. His homebrewing habit continued after moving with his wife Lila back to Mississippi following college, and when the couple relocated to Nashville in 1996.

Fast-forward a bit, and Yazoo Brewing Co. opened up in Nashville in October of 2003, with a keg-only lineup of staple beers like Yazoo Pale Ale, Spring Wheat, Dos Perros, and Onward Stout. They quickly established strong local support for their draft beer, and their Hefeweizen entered regular rotation after picking up a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2004, just a year after Yazoo opened.

In only six years Yazoo outgrew its initial home base, and 2010 brought the purchase of a new brewing facility (including a 40-barrel brewhouse) in The Gulch, a historic neighborhood in Nashville between Music Row and downtown. If you’re in the Nashville area, be sure to swing by Yazoo’s latest taproom location—which they just moved into a few years ago. Having outgrown their downtown Nashville spot, they recently built their own facility in Madison, Tennessee, about 15 minutes away, on a 7-acre plot nestled along on the Cumberland River. The new place has got way more parking and great views from the patio. Learn more at yazoobrew.com.