Reviewed by Peter M.
Peter@HoustonBeerScene.com

Swooner by Secret Beach Brewing
Style: NEIPA
The Stats:
ABV: 7.2%
IBUs: Unknown
Hops: Cryo-Ekuanot, El Dorado and Vic Secret

First, before I get to the beer, you might be asking yourself, “Who on earth is Secret Beach Brewing?”

It wasn’t long ago that I asked myself the same thing.

Secret Beach Brewing is a homebrew project located in Houston. They are no ordinary homebrewer either — see the label on the can, and you will understand what I mean.

How many homebrewers can their beer, and how many put sweet labels on those cans?

Secret Beach.

Since I mentioned the cans and labels, I should mention that the label is pretty sweet. The label was inspired by the brewer’s Hurricane soaked Honeymoon.

But let’s talk beer. If you love juicy and hazy IPAs, you would LOVE Swooner — maybe the most juice I’ve ever had in a NEIPA. It was definitely on par with some of the best NEIPAs around Houston.

Because of the lighting when I took the picture, it’s hard to identify the true color of the beer. I would describe the color as a dull, pale, gold.

The mouthfeel of the beer is exactly what you would expect from the style: soft and smooth. Medium-light bodied moderate carbonation. I might have expected a little more creaminess, but I was more than pleased with the mouthfeel.

As I drank the beer and thought about the flavor, what I kept coming back to was definitely the flavor of orange, followed by mango or papaya. The bitterness was pretty low. I personally prefer a little more bitterness, but overall, the flavor was great — like I said, super juicy! If I am being supercritical, it was a tad sweet for the style, but the depth of flavor made everything okay. I know a few people mentioned a slight hop burn, but I found no trace of hop burn.

Overall, I am very thrilled with the beer. It is very impressive, especially coming from a homebrewer and considering canning was done by hand. If I had received this beer from one of the local breweries that puts out lots of NEIPAs, I would be more than satisfied. Overall Rating: 4.5/5.

So, you may be asking how you can get your hands on some of the Secret Beach Brewing beers. In short, I suggest following Secret Beach on Instagram (@secretbeachbrewing). Hopefully Secret Beach will open a brewery and produce their beers on a larger scale very soon, because I want more!