Just The Haze

Samuel Adams hardly needs an introduction. Founded by Jim Koch in 1984, the Boston Beer Company helped define American craft brewing, with their Boston Lager voted Best Beer in America just six weeks after launch. Just The Haze is their entry into the non-alcoholic space, and it won a Gold Medal for Best Non-Alcoholic at the Great American Beer Fest, so expectations are high.

Just The Haze is brewed with Citra, Mosaic, Sabro, and Cascade hops and clocks in at 35 IBU. Samuel Adams uses a process that gently removes the alcohol while aiming to preserve the body and hop saturation you'd expect from a hazy IPA. It pours a convincing golden haze with a decent head, and visually it looks the part.

There's hop character here, but it's overshadowed by an unexpected sourness that doesn't belong in a hazy IPA. It's not undrinkable, you can get through the can, but the sour note lingers and pulls you out of what should be a juicy, tropical experience. With so many strong NA IPAs on the market now, Just The Haze feels like it's coasting on the Samuel Adams name rather than competing on flavor. It's fine in the moment, but not the one you'd reach for again.