Hop-Heavy: Escape Craft Brewery & Sublime
So Cal magic. Escape Craft Brewery and Sublime. Image by FFP.
Escape to the sublime with a tasty West Coast IPA.
Brewery: Escape Craft Brewery (Redlands & Laguna Nigel, CA)
Artist: Sublime
Beer: “Lazy Day IPA” (7.1% ABV)
Song: “Waiting For My Ruca”
I’ve shown Escape Craft Brewery love before in these Hop-Heavy articles, and I’ll keep on showing that love as long as they continue to produce delicious beer. This go-round, I drenched my palate in their wonderful “Lazy Day IPA”. This beer has a complex flavor that shifts moods, from bitter as it splashes across the tongue to sweet and juicy as it rinses through the finish, like a memorable lover, like your ruca. A complex woman with several shifts in moods.
Like the band, Sublime. Complex and made up of different flavors. They were an amalgamation of punk, rap, ska, and reggae roots, straight out of the LBC. They became famous in the mid-90s when the first single off their self-titled third album, “What I Got”, became an international hit. That album spawned several other popular songs, including my karaoke staple, “Santeria”. However, the band’s ascension to superstardom ended when Nowell overdosed on heroin on May 25, 1996.
“Lazy Day IPA”. Image by Nick M.W.
Most Sublime fans would tell you that their debut, 40oz to Freedom, is their superior album despite it being far less commercially successful than its predecessor. “Waiting For My Ruca”, the opening track off the album, is a minimalist song about a dude thinking about his girlfriend, his ruca. She’s an intoxicating mix of the kind of girl you can bring home to your mama, and the kind of girl who’ll sneak a dude into her room while nana is sleeping in the living room. She’s a handful, and she’s not even his alone.
“Lazy Day IPA” is an intoxicating mix of hops from one of the premier breweries in the Inland Empire. It hits the tongue with an initial burst of hop-heavy bitterness. It’s nothing but a snap of bitter that dissipates into a delicious citrus blend. It pairs nicely with “Waiting For My Ruca” due to the fact that, like any good ruca is down for whatever, “Lazy Day IPA” is a beer for any occasion, but it’s perfect for when you don’t have anything to do but sip your time away.
