No Corporate Beer Reviews: Thanks For Letting Us Play Tonight

Beer: Thanks For Letting Us Play Tonight
Brewery: Hoof Hearted Brewing (Marengo, OH)
Style: Pale Ale – New England
5.5% ABV / N/A IBU

To quote Morrissey, the Patron Saint of No Fun: “We hate it when our friends become successful.” Ohio’s Hoof Hearted built a grassroots following, establishing itself as a must-visit destination for beer nerds with a series of hop-forward beers. Starting in 2018 – although this was probably in development for longer – Hoof Hearted improved its distribution network. I like this, because it means total schlubs like you and me can now get access to their beers without having to make the trek to Ohio. Hoof Hearted’s followers don’t like this – mostly due a perceived lack of quality control and having to absorb some element of risk that what you get outside of Ohio is different than what you might get inside the Hoof Hearted brewery,

It’s worth noting that Thanks for Letting Us Play Tonight and the rest of the Hoof Hearted line-up available outside of Ohio are brewed and canned for Hoof Hearted by Great South Bay Brewery in New York. I’m sure that there are subtle variations in the brewing process and environment always plays a factor, but comparing both versions would be like trying to pick out the subtle differences between the two versions of Sam Rockwell in Moon. More fun would be to pick out the subtle variations between Hoof Hearted’s flagship Everybody Wants Some, a double IPA continuously being produced with different hop varietals.

Back to Thanks for Letting Us Play Tonight – it is a competent, not exceptional, hazy pale ale. It’s a big fish in a small pond, which is to say: It’s a well executed rendition of a particularly boring style. It’s perfectly cloudy (if you’re into that sort of thing), and the aggressive double dry-hopping with Galaxy hops gives the beer a really nice pineapple nose. But the price point does this one no favors. At around $24.99 for a 4-pack of pint cans for a beer that’s only 5.5% ABV, it’s standing under the long shadow of more reasonably priced giants like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

For more info, check out Hoof Hearted here.