Samuel Adams Just The Haze by The Boston Beer Co. was judged as style 34C Experimental Beer. Maybe in the next version of the guidelines we will see non-alcoholic beers get their "close-up.".Still, knowing the target base beer as a flavor target makes the evaluation at least somewhat tractable.

The beer is served in a tapered tall pilsner at 44 degrees Fahrenheit. The color is a dark gold with appreciable haze, although quite translucent. The foam is off-white, with mixed-size bubbles that show fantastic retention and lace. Conditioning appears medium-high.

The nose is bright and lively with citrus (lemon, mandarin) and an elderberry flower nectar sweetness that is quite nice. The floral bright notes are complemented well by a light biscuit malt backdrop. Swirling produced a fresh, myrcene-type hop quality that really gives the beer a fresh and bright nose that seems well balanced with malt structure and sweetness. There appears a richness that is missing, possibly due to the absence of ethanol, but the nose still rings hop forward and true.

The flavor departs considerably more from normal fermented IPA's than the nose. The start is lightly malty, and quickly goes through a short bitterness with mid-palate flavors of pine and orange zest mixed with a light malt sweetness that is pleasant but lacks full integration of hop and malt elements that is pretty typical in my impression of NA beers over time. The late flavors linger with a light residual worty sweetness countered by the light citric/sharp fruitiness from hops. The finish is off-dry to sweet-ish, with low creaminess, good carbonic bite and no astringency. 

The challenges of making beery NA beers is really massive -- alcohol provides a workhorse bridge to complement sweet, bitter, fruity, spicy (and all kinds of interactions) typical to beers. This effort, rooted in the hazy IPA style that ties strong fruitiness with juicy texture and malt sweetness, works remarkably well. The hops come across as extremely fresh, bordering on wet-hop character (hence the myrcene) that neither overpower or are subjugated by the appreciable malt character evident. While the two pillars remain somewhat distinct, you can drink this beverage with impunity and still drive (or ride a motorcycle, as the case may be) -- something you cannot say about the more normal variants. I give the brewers a lot of credit for composing a very tasty beverage and note that NA beers are really progressing in quality as new craft brewers take swings at these proverbial knuckleballs. Well done.