Beer Run Blog

A Georgia Beer Pioneer Comes to Colorado

Living in South Carolina in the late 1990s, SweetWater Brewing was an ideal that you hoped other brewers could achieve. Its 420 Extra Pale Ale was as edgy a taste as you could find in the hops arena, and the rest of its portfolio was a dive into different styles.

I didn't think it would be 20 more years (save for Great American Beer Festival tastings and occasional trips to Atlanta or Savannah) before I could sip SweetWater again in the comfort of my own home. And, like much in the craft-brewing scene, the Atlanta pioneer, which began distribution to Colorado on Feb. 1, has changed over the past two decades. But it remains a very relevant national brewery.

It entered Colorado this month with its hoppiest foot forward, coming in with four different IPA variants and a quartet of seltzers that will give the best light-bodied fruited malt beverages in Colorado a run for their money (for whatever that may be worth to beer drinkers). And while SweetWater is definitely a worthwhile addition to the Colorado-sold portfolio, it's going to have to rely on some of the unique niches it plays in to really stand out in this crowded field.

The best way to do that is to show off its G13 IPA, a beer that smells so dank you might mistake it for a joint but surprises you with a pleasantly drinkable body that is reminiscent of biting into a dandelion and is reflective of an old-school West Coast IPA. In fact, what stands out most about it is that its aroma, which walks a tight line between being boldly assertive and being overbearing, actually seems to balance the medium-sized body and make it more intense. Made with a hemp flavor blend, this is a beer you don't soon forget, and you want more.

The same can't be said for the High Light Lo-Cal Easy IPA, which, like the rest of the 100-calorie, 4% ABV ilk, is a beer that seems to hope you can write off its lack of flavor as a small downside to its healthier makeup (and the fact it comes in 15-packs rather than 12-packs). There is an upfront, bitter bite from its hop blend that includes El Dorado and Simcoe, but it fades quickly into a light body that is a whole lot of nothing. It's not that this beer is any worse than 100-calorie IPAs in general, but it certainly doesn't elevate the style.

SweetWater's H.A.Z.Y. IPA, its newest addition to its year-round lineup, does a better job of capitalizing on a trendy style, though it lacks the bomb of tropical flavors that many of Colorado's best purveyors of this genre offer. Instead, it presents a softer flavor, with an exceptional grain base that doesn't diminish the hop presence so much as it makes the specific hops flavor harder to pinpoint. This is a worthwhile addition to the local scene specifically because it is so different from the pack, though dedicated haze bros might think it doesn't go far enough in pushing away from traditional IPAs.

And then there is 420, still enjoyable after all these years, though its hop profile — Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe and US Golding — feels like a throwback, particularly with the presence of a woody malt sweetness that emboldens the flavor even as it cuts down on the hop bite. Those with ties to the Southeast are likely to feel a pull to this, but those new to the brewery might find it hard to identify the characteristics that would make this beer memorable to those not taking notes on it. The palate is clean, the hops explosion is laid back, but its flavor falls short of standing out.

But then there is the Oasis hard seltzer line, which offers the biggest surprise kick of the bunch. No, really. Its Raspberry Lemon bursts with the nose of a fantastic popsicle and offers a spark from the combination of berry and citrus flavors, and its Strawberry Kiwi has one of the juiciest flavors of the genre and remains refreshing. Beer aficionados aren't going to turn their stripes over to the seltzer world because of these two offerings (two other Oasis brands are a bit more boring), but even they will have to admit that SweetWater at least manages to get a lot of flavor out of an often flavor-free sector.

SweetWater isn't stopping with just these initial offerings, as the brewery announced just last week that it's bringing a tropical wheat ale and a barrel-aged sour hazy IPA made for its 24th anniversary to town. Maybe some of the more experimental beers from its Woodlands Project will follow. 

If you haven't tried SweetWater, it's worth getting your hands on some and thinking about how similarly aged Colorado breweries, like Oskar Blues or Left Hand, have aged and kept pace with the massive changes in the craft beer scene. This is, no question, a brewery for hopheads who like their beer less tropical and more steeped in woody, grassy, more traditional hops, mixed in with some terpene advancement. But there's something to like here.

Labels: Georgia beers, hazy IPAs, IPA, Pale Ale, seltzers, Session beers, SweetWater Brewing