We embark on a life-long journey to find and review as many fantastic Juicy Bits produced by the award-winning Colorado-based WeldWerks Brewing Co. We begin the first volume of our beer journal, Fantastic Bits and Why We Drink Them with the flagship New England IPA (NEIPA)/ Juicy or Hazy IPA, Juicy Bits. The next three are the Loral, Sabro, and Lotus variants of the DDH Juicy Bits. DDH stands for double dry-hopped. We draw this first volume to a close with the New Zealand hop version of the 2019 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) gold medalist, Extra Extra Juicy Bits.
WeldWerks, like many other successful businesses, started in a garage. The co-founder and head brewer Neil Fisher started homebrewing in 2009. In the 2014 Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival, Neil bagged two medals from the prestigious brewing competition. This paved the way for Neil to team up with now-CEO and co-founder, Colin Jones. Eleven months later, the first beers were poured at WeldWerks Brewing in Greely, Colorado. In the 2019 GABF two entries by Weldwerks, Extra Extra Juicy Bits and Itsy Bits won gold in the Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA and silver in the Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale categories, respectively.
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Juicy Bits comes in different forms, released at different times of the year. The first in this compilation is the flagship NEIPA, Juicy Bits is a juicy and hazy beer that features Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops. DDH Juicy Bits is the intensely dry-hopped version of the said beer crafted to showcase the complex fruit character contributed by approximately 7 lbs. per barrel of Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops. Different versions of the DDH Juicy Bits are being released occasionally to feature different hop varieties in addition to the core hop schedule. Extra Extra Juicy Bits, as the name suggests, is the absurdly hopped version of Juicy Bits.
STYLE GUIDELINES
These beers are being evaluated individually as a Specialty IPA: New England IPA (21B) in the context of the provisional guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) for the said beer style. The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
“Juicy Bits” (6.7% ABV)
Juicy Bits pours a hazy deep gold beer with a white head. This beer opens up with a soft aroma of tangerines and hints of lanzones peel. The palate is medium-bodied and is moderately effervescent.
TASTING NOTES
With a juice-like mouthfeel, Juicy Bits explodes with ripe tangerines and orange pith. These are then backed by light green tea and lychee tartness. The malt character takes on a more supportive role as with most beers of this style and manifests as light and bready. Meanwhile, the perceived bitterness is a notch below the usual. Juicy Bits leaves the palate with a slightly puckering and dry sensation, of light citrus and the familiar lychees.
THE VERDICT
Tasting Juicy Bits is like drinking pulpy orange juice, but it is not juice and there are no pulpy bits. It is beer. With all the praises the brewery had received, they still continue to release very consistent and accessible beers such as this New England IPA. When we first tried this beer years ago, we instantly fell in love with Colorado’s craft beer scene. Now, when we hear or see the word, “Colorado,” the show South Park is not the first thing that comes to our minds anymore– it is WeldWerks. True story.
“Loral DDH Juicy Bits” (6.7% ABV)
TASTING NOTES
Hazy yellow-orange with a thin white head. Fragrant mango and lime citrus greet the nose. Loral DDH Juicy Bits is medium-bodied and moderately carbonated. Meanwhile, fruity citrus and lemon bars compose the flavor profile and give this beer a very juicy impression. The bitterness makes its presence felt in the aftertaste as lime peel but remains well-integrated. Interesting hints of mango tartness make the finish more interesting.
THE VERDICT
The original Juicy Bits is probably one of the best examples of a New England IPA. This Loral DDH variant follows its footsteps but highlights more lemon, lime, and mango characters. As with the flagship version, Loral DDH Juicy Bits goes down easily like juice. Excellent.
“Sabro DDH Juicy Bits” (6.7% ABV)
Hazy straw color with a white head. The nose suggests a spiked pineapple cocktail topped with mangoes, pomegranate, and passion fruit. The body and carbonation are perceived both in medium levels with a “dry” fruity juice mouthfeel.
TASTING NOTES
Unsweetened pineapples, lychees, and tea dominate the flavor profile with moderate bitterness. While sweetness is very low, faint peppery heat and star anise surface as the beer warms up. This Sabro DDH version leaves the palate very dry– akin to sipping canned pineapple and lychee juice. Tea-like bitterness also lingers late.
THE VERDICT
Overall, this is quite a “dry” take on the classic Juicy Bits– our least favorite in the series so far. It just does not have that “juicy” factor this range is known for.
“Lotus DDH Juicy Bits” (6.7% ABV)
TASTING NOTES
Hazy straw color with a foamy white head. This Lotus DDH variant smells like candied oranges, orange pith, and strawberries. It conforms to style with its medium body and carbonation. Soft, pillowy, and juice-like on the palate, this Juicy Bits alter ego boasts mandarin oranges (moderate sweetness and low sourness), orange pith, and light lanzones and strawberries. The bitterness is noted to be a notch lower than medium characterized as pine- and tea-like. Backbone is light and bready. This beer leaves the palate slightly puckering with the orange pith, lychees, and an interesting pine-like bitterness that becomes more pronounced at the back end.
THE VERDICT
Impressive. It is Juicy Bits with a similar degree of juiciness but packed with more orange pith and strawberries.
“Nelson Extra Extra Juicy Bits” (8.4% ABV)
TASTING NOTES
Hazy pale gold with a white head. The ripeness of peach, pineapple, and lychee are well captured in the aroma of this beer. We definitely took our time in appreciating the nose of this Nelson variant. Extra Extra indeed.
The palate suggests a beer with medium body and carbonation with a slightly puckering mouthfeel. Lychee is at the forefront of the flavor spectrum, backed by juicy pears, sweet peaches, and oranges. The perceived bitterness is notably higher than average and manifests as tea-like and lanzones seeds. The malt backbone is light and bready and almost neutral. The noted bitterness lingers very long with impressions of marmalade, leaving the palate puckering and dry.
THE VERDICT
Nelson Extra Extra Juicy Bits is probably the most bitter New England IPA we have tried from Weldwerks so far. However, this elevated level of bitterness also comes with relatively more pronounced fruity aromas and flavors. Well-done.
SUMMARY
We went from juicy to intensely juicy and to absurdly juicy in this first volume of our Juicy Bits feature. With the awards and praises aside, Juicy Bits, in all its shapes and sizes, represents what we think the New England IPA should be all about– an unpretentious, delicious, and exciting beer brewed to be enjoyed by both people new to craft beer and seasoned drinkers. This is why we drink them.
Stay tuned for the second volume of Fantastic Bits and Why We Drink Them.
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