For this installment of Tasty Brews, I took a ride over to the Smokestack Center to check out what was on tap at Area 23. The bar is always changing things up and I hadn’t been there in a while, so I was curious to check out the selection.
Most of the options were beers I’d already had, but there was one that caught my eye – Elysian Space Dust IPA. I’d seen this beer in stores many times and always wanted to try it – the label is pretty cool and spacey, with a cartoon bud of hops seemingly blowing stars out of its mouth out in space. Anyway, it was time to try this beer once and for all.
First things first – this is a pretty strong beer in every sense of the word. The hops flavor comes at you right away and stays around the whole time you’re drinking it. The aroma is fairly mild, but the taste certainly is not. The hops are bright and bitey with some bitterness that lingers. The flavor profile leans more toward dank and herbal than fruity and citric.
It also checks in at 8.2 percent alcohol by volume, which is nothing to play around with, especially considering it was served as a full pint. It has 62 IBUs, which is pretty high – the higher the number, the more bitter the beer. By comparison, Budweiser has 7 IBUs and Sam Adams Rebel IPA has 45. Keep that in mind before thinking about trying a Space Dust – it really is a very hoppy beer.
Space Dust is sneaky strong. By the time you’re halfway done with your pint, there will be no mistaking that you’ve just drunk half of a high-alcohol beer. Pacing is important with this one, as is savoring – if you love hops, there aren’t many better options out there than Elysian Space Dust.
