Beer Review: 10 Barrel Profuse Juice

photo by Kevin Gibson

10 Barrel Brewing from Oregon enters the haze craze

When the hazy IPAs hit my hometown, I’d only heard of the new beer style in passing. I had no idea what to expect.

Fast forward to a world in which they are everywhere, and breweries across the nation are vying for a seat at the tropical-taste table. South Bend, Ore.-based 10 Barrel Brewing has jumped in line with a tribute to the so-called “haze craze” with its new entry, Profuse Juice.

I popped open a can and poured it, immediately noticing that, if you take away the fertile head on the beer, the liquid looks pretty much exactly like grapefruit juice. That’s a hazy IPA for you. I took a whiff and was happy to discover that Profuse Juice’s aroma reveals hops. Some of these hazy IPAs, sometimes known as Northeast IPAs, literally have smelled to me just like breakfast juice, as if it was some sort of Sunny D blend your grandmother got on sale. But this beer is decidedly hoppy, even hinting at a piny bitterness.

In the flavor, however, the bitterness never materializes. In fact, hop bitterness is barely even hinted at when you finish a swallow, which is the point with these beers—bring all the tropical notes, none of the bitter, even though the beer is listed as being 45 IBUs.

Let’s be honest, these beers are IPAs for people who don’t particular like IPAs, and even though I’m not particularly a fan of the style, I’ll give credit where credit is due here. If that’s the intent, it’s executed well.

Perhaps the best aspect of this particular hazy IPA is that the body remains fairly crisp. Some of the hazy brews out there have a mouthfeel like someone has mixed a tablespoon of Bisquick into it. Sometimes they feel undercarbonated, almost too soft to be beer. From the start, Profuse Juice just feels like beer, with the expected effervescence that comes along with it. It’s deceptively drinkable at 6.5% alcohol by volume.

Again, while I’m not a huge fan of the hazy IPA craze, this one’s got merit. We all know it's too late to change the game here; this style is what it is and the die has been cast. But as hazy IPAs go, this is pretty satisfying, even if taken just as a beer and not something being wedged into a particular style. It’s refreshing, it’s crisp, and I’ll happily drink another one soon.

10 Barrel will keep Profuse Juice on the market through March 2020.