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Rainbows are Real is a Hazy IPA and is in the year-round portfolio for Clown Shoes. For me, the opportunity to write this beer review is special. The beer, like myself, came from Massachusetts. Yes, I’ve found a new home in Michigan over the last several years, but I grew up on greater Boston’s North Shore, about a half hour from the town of Ipswich. Clown Shoes Beer was founded there in 2009. The brewery has since been acquired by Mass Bay Brewing Co, but it has remained local.

The beer poured a deep gold, almost as close to brown as a Hazy IPA might get. Rather than being completely opaque like pineapple, orange, or mango juice, there was a true haze that was visibly in suspension. When held up to light, parts of the glass were translucent.

An initial whiff revealed lots of malt, along with a hop aroma that started off dank and resinous and brought with it ripe pineapple and orange peel. The addition of terpenes, or aromatic compounds and essential oils extracted from hops, contributed to the dank yet fruity character. As the beer warmed, an aroma of unripe citrus began to present – think oranges with a little bit of green still on them -, which I found to be someplace between interesting and pleasant.

Flavorwise, with a ton of malt flavor and a fruity hop profile (Azacca, Mosiac, and Citra), this was a very sweet beer with candy and ripe oranges up front. As sweet as the beer was it managed to bring with it a bitter and clean finish that refreshed the palate and kept it from getting fatigued or bogged down. In the mouth, Rainbows are Real was smooth with light carbonation.

Overall, I found Rainbows are Real to be a little on the sweet side, so if you are a fan of sweet Hazy IPAs, this would be good for you to try. It’s rare to see a Hazy IPA that is so well-balanced, so Rainbows are Real felt like a feat of ingenuity and brewing chops that should be appreciated. The addition of hop terpenes for an extra aromatic punch showed that innovation and experimentation are still possible in the industry.


Disclaimer: Thanks to Mass Bay Brewing Co for sending cans for review!

 


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