Fuzzz from Structures Brewing
Structures Brewing has two locations in their hometown of Bellingham, Washington, a coastal city of about 90,000, located about 90 miles north of Seattle and just 17 miles from the Canadian border. They’ve been pouring beers in the Pacific Northwest since 2015, distribute across the Tacoma/Seattle region of Washington, and, according to VinePair, are “wizards” when it comes to hazies.
Between that glowing compliment and not being able to find their beers outside of northwest Washington, when I had the chance to grab their Fuzzz, I lept at the opportunity.
Fuzzz is a variant of their flagship hazy IPA, Fuzz, that was brewed in December of last year. It features Citra, El Dorado, Galaxy, and Simcoe hops and a nice 7.2% ABV. With their limited distribution and rarity in my area, the single 16-ounce can was a bit more, costing me $8.50.
Pouring a murky orange color with some lighter straw hues, Fuzzz was quite hazy and completely opaque. About a finger and a half of pillowy, eggshell white head built up. It was rather dense and lasted for quite some time before finally fizzling down but, as it did so, it coated nearly the entirety of the glass in a thin lacing.
The aroma was juicy and tropical with massive notes of papaya, mango, pineapple, and a bit of grapefruit. The flaked wheat and oats offered up some cereal-like qualities and broke up the tropical fruit monopoly somewhat.
I was surprised at how light and watery the beer was upon my first sip…the body was super thin and that made it rather crushable. After a quick burst of carbonation, the hops quickly hit my taste buds with a plethora of juicy fruit flavors.
The tastes almost mirrored the scent with a couple things shuffling around. For example, there was a massive amount of pineapple that brought forth a slightly acidic, but mostly juicy, flavor that took control early and never relinquished it.
The papaya and mango were still there but they were definitely pushed to the background and would peek out over the pineapple every so often. With the one exception being the end of the sip. Each swig ended with a burst of super juicy mango and papaya that made me keep going back for more.
Because of that late burst of juice, the sip ended super cleanly with no lingering dryness or bitterness. Finishing it off was a nice hum of mango and a late addition of some pithy grapefruit, that lasted just for a moment or two.
The only other difference between the smell and the taste was that the grist characteristics from the scent never made it to the taste…instead it was completely dominated by the tropical fruits. And, because it was so light, it drank like juice. I think I finished off ¾ of this beer in around 8 minutes or so…it was soooo damn crushable and easy to drink.
This version of their main-stay, Fuzz, was absolutely delightful. I had Fuzz a few years ago and it was good but Fuzzz blows that beer out of the water. If you can still find this, grab a can. It’s light, it’s absolutely delicious, and it’s worth every cent.
