This Amazing IPA Tastes Better Than Hard Seltzer

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Name: Space Dust Brewer: Elysian Brewing Company , Seattle, Washington Style: India Pale Ale ABV: 8.2%

Youre at an end-of-summer pool party. Hey, you want a drink, buddy? your friend asks you at exactly at the moment you were starting to wonder if he was going to.

You accept, naturally.

Digging around the cooler your friend says, I picked up a mixed pack of this hard seltzer. Theres, like, lime and black cherry and I think a mango or maybe papaya, I dont know?

You wait for him to list something elseanything elsethat starts with the letters be and ends with the letters er."

But it slowly settles into your grey matter. There is no beer. There is only soda. Soda with a flashy marketing campaign and, okay, a little alcohol, but even though you knew that your friend could be a bit of a man-child, and, in fact, his mad-child-ness was sort of endearing, you werent sure if you could stomach a soda with booze.

Luckily for you, youve brought your own cooler. Its in the car. In the trunk. Next to the flares. For emergencies. Emergencies like this one.

Back you bring Elysian's Space Dust, a straight-up, classic IPA that Elysian made all fancy to honor of the 50th anniversary of the mood landing, a time in American history during which we, as a society, invested our money and smartest minds on things of purpose.

You pop the beer cap and tilt the bottle to your lips, not caring if your friend cares; not knowing if you can still call him a friend.

But then you're awash in the tingle of heady hops, tropical fruit flavors, and a pleasant balance of malt.

"Hey, could I get a sip of that?" your friend asks.

All is forgiven?

Pairs Well With: questionable friends, pool noodles, accidental gulps of chlorinated water, SPF 15+ lip balm, Triscuits , anything that isn't hard seltzer