Half Acre Beer Hates Astronauts

Brewed By: Half Acre Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Half Acre in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 7.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Wrapping up with this lazy Sunday...I swung by Half Acre this weekend to grab their latest IPA, the Beer Hates Astronauts IPA. About Half Acre:

The Half Acre Beer Company was founded in October 2006, which is young for craft beer in general, but great for the local Chicago scene. The founders of Half Acre started out by working with the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls in Wisconsin. They eventually developed their Half Acre Lager, and began distributing and selling it in Chicago during the August of 2007. The beer was successful enough that Half Acre was able to buy out a space in the Bucktown area of Chicago. With continuing sales, Half Acre was eventually able to purchase equipment from Ska Brewing Co. and moved to their current location on Lincoln Avenue on the north side of Chicago. Half Acre has been brewing at their Chicago location since 2009, and seems to be really expanding in both amount of distribution and popularity. Check out the full story HERE, and check out their website for a low-down on all their beers and info. 

The Beer Hates Astronauts IPA is inspired by the God Hates Astronauts comic. A sort-of collaboration brew between Ryan Browne and Half Acre, the Beer Hates Astronauts IPA is brewed with Vienna malt and Citra hops. Punching in at a cozy 7.0% ABV, this beer should rock your comic world. Let's glass it up and see what we got.

Half Acre Beer Hates Astronauts

Wow, this is a gorgeous beer...pouring a hazy, golden/yellow/honey color, and kicking up a finger of hazy, white head. The head retention is nice, with hazy white head sticking around, and there's some nice lacing.

The aroma on this beer is also amazing. It's courtesy of how fresh this beer is, no doubt. I'm getting HUGE bready/honey hop sweetness on the nose, with giant citrus, orange and tangerine. You get some resinous hemp on the nose as well, along with a big floral/grass/melon and biscuit/cracker aroma. This reminds me of the Daisy Cutter, with much more malt kick on the aroma. Hopefully that carries through into the taste.

WOW!!! This is some good shit. The malt body on this beer is awesome, with bready/honey sweetness up front, then tons of grass, melon, floral hemp, orange/citrus, and a finish that shifts to dry cracker/biscuit. The hops in this veer towards sweet and grassy, with melon, some hints of peach and tropical fruit, and plenty of bread/honey/cracker malt support. Super rad.

This is better than the Daisy Cutter, and much better than the thin Double Daisy Cutter...super nice, really, with a medium-full mouthfeel supported by big malt sweetness and good carbonation. Palate depth is great, and complexity is also great. At 7.0%, this has a heft and weight that will slow you down...but this is also very drinkable. You get bread/honey sweetness up front with grass, peach, tropical fruit, and melon; that rolls into some hemp, orange, resinous bitterness; the back is lingering bitterness, with big cracker/biscuit, and a dry finish.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I gotta go with a Strong Divine Brew on this. I would bang this, and I would bang this again. This is everything the Double Daisy Cutter should be, but isn't, for whatever reason. The big malt body is what makes this beer great, and the Citra hops don't hurt. I would pair this with pizza or a burger, or even some lightly spiced chicken wings. When I was at Half Acre the other day, they still had tons of this beer left. If you can, go get some now and drink it fresh. 

Random Thought: This beer right here, this is what I'm talking about. If Half Acre brewed an IPA this good every week, I would be a very happy camper. Take note, Half Acre. Hops are just half the story. While your Daisy Cutter is a great beer, the Double Daisy Cutter could have benefited from the malt sweetness that we got going on here.