Lupulin Hooey IPA

The first few tastes of Lupulin's beers I ever had were from growlers brought to gatherings of friends or family, and I liked what I drank. I didn't get a chance to visit their taproom and try more until last July, and I wrote about that here. Since then, bottles and cans have appeared in local stores, and I have had the privilege to host a showcase of six of their beers at Acadia, last Friday. It's just the beginning of a relationship that should go on and on. As long as they're brewing great beers, I'm with them.

When I was at the taproom in Big Lake, I gazed at the beautiful display of branded glasswares of all styles and had to tell myself no, no, I don't need more glasses. Throughout my year of visiting Minnesota's craft breweries and their taprooms, I did a commendable job of avoiding the allure of adding more glasses to my already unwieldy collection. I moved twice in the span of one year, and the mere process of packing them up, let alone finding space for them is exceedingly tiresome. (I did some moving by bicycle last year, and when arriving at the new home, found that some of the bumpiness had caused a few favorites to crack. "well," said my friend, "you said you had too many." Yeah, but Brother Thelonious! I need that one!)

And then they deliver a whole case of Revival style glasses to your bar before the event, and there's no way you can't bring one home and use it every chance you can get. I'm kind of in love with this glass. I'm throwing out all my shaker pints, and will only drink from tekus, pokals, revivals, and such forth from now on.  And so I used one to drink one of my new favorite beers, Hooey from Lupulin. Hazy IPA. 6.2% ABV. 60 IBU. Brewed by Lupulin Brewing, Big Lake, MN.

Crazy, Juicy, Hazy, Hooey! (From the can label.)

Hazy, cloudy, amber/golden hued, with a long-lasting lather of snowy white foam atop.

In the nose: aw, yeah, it's going on here, all the goods are in plentiful supply. Piney, citrusy, pineapple, vibrant, fresh and beautiful. Everything a hophead wants in the aroma is all present and accounted for.

In the mouth: Hops aplenty on the palate, but not a trace of harsh or bitter. Smooth as can be. Juicy malts. Easy-drinker, and ever-delightful. Just flat out scrumptious. Hooray for Hooey. I can drink this one, and then again drink again.

Is this supposed to be in the New England-style IPA, with all it's juicy and hazy and not so bitter? I think maybe, and I think it succeeds very well.

More from the can: "This IPA is hopped with a ridiculous amount of the juiciest hops available. In order to bring you the most hop flavor possible, we intentionally leave yeast and hop oils in the beer by not filtering them out. Some say that's a lot of hooey! What the hell do they know, anyway..."