It’s been awhile since I’ve had beers from Elysian Brewing, probably since the last time the Great Pumpkin Roadshow came through town, because—let’s be honest—the AB InBev ownership is a deterrent, especially with so many other great local options available. But there’s no doubt Elysian brews good beer, and recently reached out to send me a selection of beers to review, all of which are well suited for summertime drinking.

A quick primer on the brewery: Elysian opened in 1996 in Seattle, with solid beers across a range of styles, and it quickly became a local favorite. A second location opened in 2006, followed by a third in 2011, and two of the biggest things the brewery became known for (well, in certain circles) were its pumpkin beers and the annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival. In 2015, AB InBev bought the company and has since taken much of the brand national.

So let’s take a look through the beers I received; they are reviewed below in the order in which I drank them.

Contact Haze Hazy IPA

This is the brewery’s year-round entry into the hazy IPA category, with a bit of a psychedelic theme permeating the design. It’s 6% ABV and 39 IBUs, and Elysian’s description says:

The day the world stood still and Elysian brewed a Hazy IPA. Rules were broken to bring you Contact Haze, a tangled chemistry of mild haze, low bitterness, and an explosion of hop aroma. Bursts of bright raspberry, currant, citrus, guava, and passionfruit, with a slight floral note.

It’s a pretty standard malt bill for a hazy, with a hop medley of El Dorado, Mosaic, Southern Passion, Sabro, Citra, and Sultana hops to round it out. The can said to “Experience by” June 16; I drank it on June 8, so this was towards the end of its shelf life.

Appearance: Hazy, golden color with a touch of orange; perhaps a bit straw colored, it matches the can well. The head is creamy, dense, fine, and lacy.

Smell: Lightly citrus-tropical with peppery allium notes, over an appetizing Cream of Wheat graininess. If it’s almost “expired” I’d say the aroma is a bit muted, with an herbal, light spice note.

Taste: Reminds me more of a hoppy wheat ale than an IPA. The hops are lightly bitter to complement the soft malt body, with a nice nostalgic hop flavor that’s savory and earthy. I’m not entirely sure how else to describe “nostalgic hop flavor” since it’s awfully subjective, but it’s something that takes me back to early days of getting into craft beer or homebrewing. It’s pretty mellow and floral in general.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, with a smoothness coming from the wheaty haze (proteins) and a smooth finish.

Overall: Decent, easy-drinking, lighter than “IPA” to my palate. Described fruitiness is muted but drinks well in warm weather.

Space Dust IPA

Space Dust was Elysian’s breakout IPA introduced a couple of years before the AB InBev sale, and continues to be the company flagship. There’s a reason for that; it’s a super solid northwest (or west coast) IPA that is eminently drinkable, even at 8.2% ABV (which probably should classify this as a double). It’s brewed with Chinook, Citra, and Amarillo hops to 73 IBUs.

This bottle’s best-by date was October 20, so at four months out I suspect it was fairly fresh.

Appearance: Deep honey-gold color, going copper, with a touch of unfiltered haze but generally clear. A big, fluffy pile of cream foam tops it.

Smell: A hoppy blend of piney-ness, lemony citrus, light and warm tropical fruit notes, and spicy greens. There are some nice American/northwest hop aromas here, appealing and green. The hops dominate; if there’s any malt in the nose, it’s crisp with a light touch of caramel.

Taste: Classic spicy, resinous hop flavors with a good, striking bitterness underpinning it. Piney, earthy, forest floor spiciness with a sweetish malt and a bit of alcoholic heat. The bitter notes are prominent and sticky, there are big lupulin flavors, and it has a pine-fresh note towards the back.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, a touch boozy, with a long bitter and resiny hop finish.

Overall: It’s refreshingly bitter in the “old” style of west coast IPAs, which still offering up lovely hop flavors. It packs a kick across the board and really is quite a good IPA.

Salute the Sun (Lime) Pale Ale

This is the summer seasonal that was the most interesting to me in the group, because it’s a pale ale conditioned on sun-dried black limes and hopped with all Citra. I’m not sure I’ve seen black limes, dried or otherwise, outside of cooking shows, so this piqued my curiosity. The tasting notes say:

This pale ale is conditioned on sun-dried black limes and vibrates with a ridiculous amount of Citra hops. Slightly tart, highly citrusy, super chill.

The grain bill is interesting as well, with standard two-row barley along with both malted and rolled oats, along with Munich and honey malt. So it sounds like an oat pale, which would contribute to a soft, creamy texture. The limes and the Citra emphasize citrus, of course. It’s 5.2% ABV and 32 IBUs, and the “experience by” writing was obscured so I couldn’t tell if it said “6/10/20” or “9/10/20.”

Appearance: Orange-ish copper in color, hazy and opaque (the oats), with an off-white, fine head that fell quickly.

Smell: Citrus-limey with lime zest, tropical fruit notes (papaya, pineapple), and some candied orange peel. Light spiciness with a touch of dank resin.

Taste: Hop and lime peel bitterness up front give way to pith and a touch of citrus. The limes are fairly assertive in an earthy, bitter rind presence, with green hops and a light malt graininess bringing up the back. That bitterness lingers, like a bit of citrus oil squeezed from the peel.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a clean yet persistent bitterness that settles on the tongue and lingers long after you sip.

Overall: It’s definitely a citrus-based bitterness that defines this beer, with hints of tartness, but more towards essential oil and bitter pith. I’d like more of a citric presence for a refreshing, tart, summery kick.

Rolling Stone Lager

Elysian has a history of music (or music-adjacent) beer collaborations such as Loser Pale Ale with Seattle’s Sub Pop Records (“Corporate Beer Still Sucks”) and Def Leppard Pale, and that continues with Rolling Stone Lager, a year-round collaboration beer with Rolling Stone magazine. (The magazine wrote about it here.)

Honestly I’m not sure I’m connecting the dots going from a Seattle brewery to a New York music magazine, other than the music connections I mentioned above, so here we are. It’s billed as an American lager, with a pretty standard grain bill for a nice traditional amber lager with Cascade, Crystal, and Mandarina Bavaria hops. It’s 4.8% ABV and 47 IBUs. “Experience by” date on the can was September 23.

Appearance: An unfiltered copper color with ample two fingers of white head that’s lacy and foamy. I like the look of it.

Smell: Grainy malt with just a touch of DMS (corn) and a bit minerally. Gentle earthy and spicy hops, mellow. It’s malty but clean.

Taste: Clean grainy notes with a nice backbone of earthy hop bitterness. The mineral structure and dry, bready malt enhances that bitterness and there’s a touch of spicy hop flavor at the back, though less than I’d expect from 47 IBUs of American hops.

Mouthfeel: Clean, dry, medium-bodied with a lightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall: Nicely flavorful, standard international style lager (I know I wrote “American” above because that’s how you’ll find it classified), clean and crispy drinkable. I also got kind of an old school American amber lager vibe that’s a bit of… hipster throwback? Maybe that’s the Rolling Stone label working on my subconscious.

All in all, a nice roundup of what Elysian has on offer these days, and all fine beers to enjoy in hot summer weather. The best of the bunch in my opinion is Space Dust, followed by Rolling Stone Lager, and in the case of the other two, they are fine if you can get them fresh. (Jury’s still out on what the unreadable date on the Salute the Sun might have been.)