What I’m drinking this week: Blissed from Attitude Brewing

Name: Blissed

Brewery: Attitude Brewing

Style: DDH Hazy IPA

ABV: 7%

IBU: 40

Though I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions, I do like to use the new year as an excuse to try new things. And for Hop Talk, that means more IPAs.

Let me be clear: I still don’t think every San Diego drinker needs to be an IPA lover to enjoy our beer scene. But since IPAs are our namesake, I want to learn to appreciate the style — even if it doesn’t ultimately change my palate. So for 2022, I’m setting out to try 22 different IPAs.

I started off with Blissed, a double dry-hopped hazy IPA from Barrio Logan-based Attitude Brewing. The beer — which is a collaboration with Brazil brewery Koala San Brew — is made with five types of hops: Strata, Simcoe Cryo, Mosaic, Mosaic Cryo and Idaho 7.

With all those hops, I was expecting the beer to be bitter and heavy. Boy, was I wrong. The hops were definitely present, but the dry-hopped method kept the hazy IPA on the mellow side of the bitterness scale. Instead, the murky beer was juicy with citrus notes.

I had the medium-bodied IPA at dinner, and it proved light enough to pair with a blue cheese burger and sweet potato fries. Plus, the taste ended up complementing both the strong cheese and sweet potatoes, letting me wash down the carbs without compromising any of the flavors.

All and all, Blissed turned out to be the ideal brew to kick off this IPA experiment. And I’m not the only one who thinks so — the hazy IPA actually won a bronze medal at the 2021Great American Beer Festival.

One IPA down, 21 to go.