Exit 1 – a hazy DIPA from New Hampshire’s Spyglass Brewing
Spyglass Brewing Company has called Nashua, New Hampshire home since their inception in 2017. The brewery features an impressive 32 taps, over 400 seats (both inside and out), and a full kitchen. While I have yet to visit Nashua or Spyglass and have only had one other beer from them, I do like that you can buy almost all of their beers as four packs or as individual cans…something I have always said more places need to do.
Earlier this year I was able to try their Blockchain, a hazy DIPA, and liked it so much that when I saw another hazy Double up for grabs I had to try it – Exit 1.
Exit 1 is a hazy Double IPA brewed with Citra, Citra Cryo, and Eclipse hops. It packs a very solid punch, at 8.2%, and a four-pack of 16-ounce cans will cost about $20.
Pouring a very murky straw color, Exit 1 had a nice helping of dense foam build up atop the beer. Slightly more than two fingers of eggshell white head appeared and stuck around for a while. After three or so minutes, there was still about half the head remaining. When it did disappear it left thick lacing marks around the entire glass.
The aroma was hoppy and fruit-forward with big notes of pithy grapefruit and juicy orange/tangerine along with some lighter berry and melon qualities. There was also a bit of yeasty guava and bubblegum as well, making it a very sweet and inviting brew.
It begins with a soft and pillowy feeling that seems to expand, engulfing the entire mouth. However, the flavors are quite subtle and slow moving. It’s the orange and guava that finally appear first, bringing a pair of sweet and juicy flavors up front.
That tangerine/guava combo stayed in control throughout the sip but allowed other flavors to occasionally peek out. The berry and honeydew appeared next, and only for a moment, sitting underneath those early tropical fruits characteristics.
Finally, on the backend, a grapefruit rind bitterness and some dank earthy hop notes challenged the initial fruity flavors. And, while they might have pulled even, the dank and bitter hoppy flavors were never able to overtake those early juicy flavors.
Exit 1 finished mostly clean, with a dash of guava-y yeast esters and some resinous grapefruit bitterness lingering on longer than the rest.
It was a very sessionable DIPA that drank a LOOOT easier than most 8.2% beers. It was soft and sat a bit on the heavier side but the subtle flavors made it easy to crush still. A very well made hazy Double IPA.
