Town Hall Juice Haze NE Pale Ale (part three of Minneapolis Breweries 2020)

My Spider-Man mask is not upside-down. I meant
to do it that way, because...

A peek at the numbers shows that Town Hall Brewery is tops here in the Bitter Nib. They've appeared nearly 200 times so far. There are many reasons for this: I've been going there for eighteen years. It is the most prolific brewery in close proximity to my residence over that time. And, of course, they are always making great beers.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the first place I went to when bars and restaurants could re-open, outside only, was that brewpub on Washington Avenue, back on the 8th of June. A nice little lunch on the patio with a couple or three beers. They were taking walk-up reservations. All the requisite safety pre-cautions were in place. Had a Masala Mama, a Mango Mama, and a Good as Gold IPA. I drink a lot of IPAs.



I returned to Town Hall some three weeks later, on the 30th of June, for my birthday. Last year on my birthday, the gathering looked like this:

L to R: Rick, Ed, Dean, Rita, Kelly, me, Angie,
Nick, Jason.

Two years ago, we convened for my 50th and this was just a slice of the attendance:

L to R: Sharon, Dave, Jason, me, Michelle, Nick,
Jeff, Rita, Kelly. Missing: Dean, Ed, Patti, Lynn,
Alex, Jeff B, Dave A., Summer...others?

Ed is having a guest beer, for once.
It's a Hoops Brewing blueberry milk
stout, chosen so that Ed could have
one of Dave's beers at Mike's brewery.

Well, these days in our times of social distancing, tables may not seat more than four individuals, although six at a table is allowed if they are all from the same household, for some reason. Gatherings like the above simply are not possible. So, I got together with Ed, and Kelly joined us. That would have to be enough. Maybe we could have slid a few more in, if they showed up, but it's hard to get people out these days. It was very slow, no one was at the bar, and my mind went back to memories of eighteen years of hanging out at that bar, (my first visit was in summer of 2002), all the good times and comradery with new friends and old. Silent, for now. Sad, when you think of it. And I do.

I had a new IPA called Hop Cruise, because that's what I do, for my second beer I asked Ed to choose and he went with cask Masala Mama, and I finished with a delicious Rye Barrel. Took some crowlers home, as I do, and one of them is their new hazy pale ale. Because everyone has to make a hazy, and I have to drink them, because sometimes there isn't anything else.

Town Hall Juice Haze NE Pale Ale. 5.5 % ABV.

Even Town Hall has to go hazy, once in a while.

Highly hazed, bright golden hued, small white head.

In the nose: Big citrus, orange, grapefruit. slight sweetness, touch of tropical.

In the mouth: Burst of bitterness, followed by the juicy. Citrus and tropical in equal amounts. Terriffically tasty. Hazy, fuzzy, with light bitterness. Medium body, light drinking. Bright and fruity. Tasty. I like it.





Juicy New England style pale ale packed with tropical fruit hop character.