Oskar Blues has been pretty reliably great. Yes, there have been some outliers toward the bottom end, but they've never had a bad beer, and they have had an excellent beer. The fact that they are averaging in the great category means that every beer I encounter that has their name on it is one I'm going to try (assuming it does not say coffee or sour in the title). I picked up this Thick Haze beer specifically because my sister-in-law was going to be in town, and she is very fond of hazy beers.
The straw-colored beer produces a noteworthy head that leaves just a little bit of lacing in its wake. It does, indeed, have haziness to it, and I reassert my argument that hazy doesn't need to exist, and there's no real reason to put it in the name of your beer. The aroma is deliciously fruity with hints of pine added to it. The yeast is more forward than on most IPAs, and the mixture of scents is intoxicating in its own right.First sip comes off as having a lot more resin than the aroma indicated. Also, this generally feels somewhat dry and bitter at the finish. I'm not saying that a sip can tell me what a finish tastes like, but my experience is that this is rather light on flavor for a New England IPA. The flavor that is there doesn't seem congruous with that style of IPA. I'm not sure what to make of this beer so far.
Tip-in is mild carbonation burn with tangerine and grapefruit rinds mixed into a burgeoning pine resin. The middle sends the carbonation to the roof of the mouth while the flavor starts to get thin and a bit watery in the center of the mouth; the hops turn slightly dank as the pine seems to overwhelm the juices. The finish is somewhat dry, somewhat dank, and decidedly bitter.
Bottom Line: A decent enough try, but this seems to fall somewhat short.
2.5/5