Monday Night Brewing | Lay Low IPA

I’ll readily admit that I pay attention to what I’m consuming. That’s not to say I won’t eat a burger, pizza or drink some really good beer. However, I regularly work out six times a week, and watch what I eat. There was a point in time I was a much bigger guy than I am now. I have no intention to return to that state. My sincere desire to NOT have to replace clothing is a significant driving factor. Now, I pay attention to my consumption and workout regularly mostly because I like good beer. The hashtag #BurnItToEarnIt is something that I believe in as strongly as #TacoTuesday.

In recent years we’ve seen a fair amount of beer – and alcohol overall – marketed to those who are more health conscious. It is pretty easy to stand in the beer isle of the grocery store and quickly identify several options that would fall into this category. By and large, I’ve found that they haven’t been worth my time and I’d rather just stick with water. Why drink several non-flavorful beers, even over several days, when I could just hold out for a really good one? Or, in my case, stick to my diet, get my workout in and have a great beer when I get home at the end of the day. That said, perhaps the opportunities in this sphere are starting to change.

Enter Monday Night Brewing. Before me sits a 3.2 ABV, 90 calorie IPA. It’s light, like really light in color – yellow and very clear, nice white bubbly head. Needless to say, I’m curious. I smell hops – as in more hops than I really thought I would. Fruity – tropical fruit, a little earthy, bubble gum. First sip, I’m struck with just how much of the hop aroma is translating to my palate. The body of this beer is light, thin almost, but across that light body, flavor is falling off in every direction. The carbonation also translates to the palate as well – I’d mark it as medium. The more I sip, the more fruit-like the flavors become. This is an easy beer to drink, pleasant, refreshing. While it is February currently, I could easily see myself reaching for one of these after mowing the lawn, grilling out, or playing on the lake.

Final snobs: Don’t judge a beer by label alone. There’s more to this one than I thought. Not all low ABV beer have to lack flavor and this one certainly doesn’t. While I often try to throttle back my consumption during the first of the week, perhaps I’ve finally found a beer for Monday nights!

Prost!