Judge’s Review: 88 Rating – Run Club by Space Cadet Brewing Co.

Hazy IPA | Limited Release | USA

By Dan Preston

Judges Rating: 88.00
Aroma: 22.00
Appearance: 5.00
Flavor: 33.00
Mouthfeel: 10.00
Overall Impression: 18.00

Run Club by Space Cadet is a Hazy IPA that falls under style BJCP 2021 21C, Hazy IPA.

This beer pours a pale, hazy yellow color with a big, fluffy off-white head. It’s nearly opaque thru the glass, but there is some visibility along the edges. The aroma is definitely hop forward, with some fruity, citrusy notes that are mosaic and citra like. You get tropical fruit like pineapple, mango and papaya for awhile, but pick up more diesel (in a good way) the longer it stays in front of the nose.

There is a little bit of green hop matter and low alcohol, but neither is offensive. Very little malt falls behind it all, just a touch of cereal grain, and finally a bit of fruity esters (red apple) from the yeast. The flavor follows suit, being hop forward again, but not quite as pleasant as the aroma. The hops lean more to the herbal, green, piney notes, but still carry a lot of fruit with pineapple, berry, mango, orange and lemon as well. It’s almost like the reverse of the aroma.

Beyond the complex fruit & dank, the citrus from the hops also carries on the tongue and trickles up a moderate level of bitterness that is a bit higher than most hazies and almost blurs the line between hazy & American IPA. This also shows up in the mouthfeel, where it doesn’t have quite as pillowy soft mouthfeel as other hazy IPAs as well, although both still within the style guidelines. This all works to keep the malt in the background, but does deliver enough of a low level of grainy, oats to keep it from being just sudsy hop water.

This beer was really easy drinking. Although it was still a hazy with new age hops, I feel it still leaned a little towards the west coast, and brought a bit more complexity.