Beer Review: Cape May’s Crushin’ It

Name: Crushin’ It
Brewing Company: Cape May Brewing Company
Location: Cape May, NJ
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 8%

A delicious, fan favorite, taproom exclusive beer from one of the largest brewery in New Jersey hits full distribution.

From Cape May Brewing’s Web site:

Refreshing and great for the beach, Crushin’ It is soon to be your summer staple. With Citra, Mosaic, and Azacca hops blending together to accentuate the fresh flavors of orange juice, Crushin’ It is dry, approachable, and perfectly balanced. Relax in the sand. Enjoy a no shower happy hour. This beer is best paired with good friends, sunshine, and SPF 30.

Cape May Brewery needs little introduction to my New Jersey readers, Cape May Brewing Company is one of the largest breweries in the State of New Jersey. Over the past couple of years, their distribution footprint has grown to encompass the entire State (as well as portions of DE and PA), but they still do quite a few brewery-only releases, which frustrates people like me who live 3 hours away and can’t easily get to the brewery for something like, say, the barrel-aged Barleywine they just released. For a time, that was the case for the beer under review today, Orange Crushin’ It. But that has changed as of April 2020, when Cape May scaled up production of the beer.

Crushin It began life as part of a Homebrewing competition at Cape May Brewery, a competition to brew a beer that mimicked the popular shore mixed drink Orange Crush. The hops in the beer, Citra, Azacca, and Mosaic evoke citrus fruit and the beer is made with a great deal of orange juice. That sounds fun and refreshing, so I was very pleased when I did a beer run to find that my local liquor store had just received a shipment of the beer. So, how does it live up to that build up?

Out of the wonderfully designed can, the beer pours a bright, slightly translucent orange-yellow. Shocking, right? One could be forgiven for thinking the beer was orange juice, on quick glance.

Aroma from the beer is of orange juice with citrusy hops, which seems spot on for a beer called an “Orange India Pale Ale.” The first sip is bursting with orange juice so I didn’t waste time for a second sip. The hop profile of the three varieties utilized in the beer come into play really nicely after that first blast of orange juice. This beer is one to drink as cold as possible, as you would orange juice. As much as I’ve mentioned the big orange juice component of the beer, it is still a beer. The hops aren’t extremely potent or aggressive, but the hops are definitely present, especially on the finish. That might be my only minor criticism of the beer.  I realize that comes down to Mosaic not being my favorite hop, which usually has an aftertaste of bitterness I don’t like. Fortunately, although noticeable, it is rather muted because of the other two hops and the abundant orange juice.

So what you have here in Orange Crushin’ It, ultimately, is a perfect warm weather or tailgating cooler beer. Flavorful, sweet, drinkable and appealing: a superb beer.

Recommended, link to Untappd 4.25-star rating.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

I believe in IPA (Level 49)