Review: Half Brothers Afternoon Squeeze Double IPA

This review is for Brad over at Manitoba Beer Cast. He's very vocal about the beers and breweries (amongst other things) he really likes and apparently he does a trip down to Grand Forks, North Dakota a couple times per year and when we talk he reminisces about the olden days of Grand Forks (down to the sketchiest motels and cheeziest resstaurants) but loves the craft beer scene - reminiscing over several years of beer at Half Brothers Brewing and Rhombus Guys. Rhombus Guys stopped brewing last year but I was able to try a couple beers from them, including a beer named after a place right near me called "Peace Garden IPA". In the small handful of times I've tried Half Brothers', all I remember is juicy and tropical IPAs, really high quality ones at that.

So for this week's sampling I'm sampling Half Brothers' Afternoon Squeeze Double IPA, this is for Mr Manitoba Beer Cast himself, I saved him a can thinking that this was a beer he was dreaming of for years, no - that's something completely different, but I still hope Brad enjoys it!

Afternoon Squeeze pours at 8.0% ABV. Actually, is this the first time I'm reviewing their beer? I swear I reviewed something by them in the past but I have no idea what all I've reviewed anymore.. 

Appearance: Moderately hazy and juicy IPA with a deep, almost opaque orange body to it with a thick snow white head on top. I'm taking too long to review this beer but in the few minutes I went from photographing this beer to taking my first impression of the beer, it went from a full head of snow white head to a mild sprinkling of foam on the glass in random spots.

Aroma: Sweet, murky, tropical, citrusy and a tad vegetal. I get a very Citra-like dank aroma right from the beginning. I get a bit of a leafy and floral presence to it, a big of celery, hint of lemon and a hint of fresh cut alfalfa - as a former farm boy, I do miss the smell of fresh cut alfalfa..

Taste: Sweet, tropical, leafy and floral - The first thing I get from the beer is a mild yeastiness but then a good deal of juiciness that's reminding me of the olden days of "Hazy" IPAs from eight or so years ago. It's decently sweet and tropical with notes of orange, lemon zest, a tad bit of grapefruit, and a gritty graininess at the very end.

Overall Thoughts: Very tropical, very leafy and floral. This is pretty much what you want in a juicy, hazy Double IPA.

PS: I also have to say: I also feel your loss for Dot's Pretzels out of Velva. I grew up only a couple hours from where Dot's originated. During the worst part of COVID era I discovered Dot's thanks to a brewery in my town whose owner was good friends of Dot.