Conceptual Beer Review: Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales’ 8.9% Imperial Hazy IPA

Conceptual is Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales' take on the imperial hazy IPA, an 8.9% double dry-hopped New England style beer out of the brewery's Omaha, Nebraska home base. I rate it 4.33 out of 5, a score built on a healthy stack of public ratings for a beer that never leaves the taproom system in big volume. The listed strength is 8.9% ABV, while the IBU is not published in the available beer listing, so I will not pretend to know it.

Conceptual at a glance

My starting point for a beer like this is always the style itself. If the words hazy IPA or New England IPA need a quick refresher, my guide to what makes a hazy IPA different explains the soft body, hop aroma, and intentionally cloudy look without treating haze as a magic quality marker on its own. Conceptual pushes that formula into imperial territory: nearly 9% ABV built on top of the same soft, juicy hazy base most drinkers already recognize.

What is Conceptual, and who brewed it?

Conceptual is brewed by Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales, a nano brewery founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 2020 by Kirk and Alyssa Hearon. The brewery has built its identity around being aggressive with styles and flavors rather than settling on two or three flagship beers; its own beer list runs into the hundreds of distinct releases, most of them small-batch and taproom-only. Conceptual fits that pattern as an imperial hazy IPA released in limited quantity rather than as a year-round core beer.

The original Omaha taproom sits at 18039 R Plaza, a small-format space built almost entirely around the bar rather than a big brewhouse or a distribution warehouse. In November 2023 the brewery opened a second taproom in Longmont, Colorado, at 1425 South Airport Road, following a long-standing personal connection to the area. Both locations brew on site, and both lean heavily on rotating hazy IPAs alongside cream ales, fruited sours, and pastry-leaning stouts.

For broader context on where this style sits, I also point curious drinkers to the site guide on how ABV is calculated and what it means in the glass; an 8.9% beer carries real weight, and Conceptual is built to be sipped rather than session-drunk in a hurry.

Conceptual ABV, IBU, calories, and ingredients

Conceptual is 8.9% ABV, squarely in imperial or double IPA territory and close to what Bearded Brewer uses across most of its bigger hazy releases. IBU is marked as unavailable rather than assigned a guessed number. Perceived bitterness in a beer like this comes from more than one lab figure: dry hop timing and form, malt backbone, carbonation, and water softness all shape how sharp or rounded the finish actually feels.

Bearded Brewer does not publish a specific hop bill or malt bill for Conceptual in the product information I could verify, so I am not going to invent one. What I can say honestly is that the brewery's wider imperial and double hazy IPA lineup leans heavily on cryo hop products and small-batch experimental varieties (Cryo Citra, Nelson, Riwaka, and Freestyle-processed hops show up across many of its other double and triple hazy releases), so Conceptual likely draws from that same house toolkit even though I cannot confirm the exact combination used in this specific batch. The calorie figure is also not published. ABV alone does not reliably predict calories, since residual extract and recipe details change the math, so I am leaving that field blank rather than dressing up a guess as a nutrition fact.

Homebrewers who want to understand the alcohol side of the equation can start with our explainer on beer gravity and ABV. For an imperial hazy IPA, the same recipe discipline applies at a bigger scale: keep oxygen away from the finished beer, use fresh hops in volume, and manage a bigger, more attenuation-hungry fermentation carefully. After more than a decade of homebrewing, I can say double-strength hazies are one of the least forgiving styles to get right at home; stale hops and sloppy packaging show up fast in a beer this size.

How Conceptual tastes

An imperial hazy IPA at this strength should show a thick, almost juice-like body with a big hop aroma riding on top of it, and Conceptual's style profile points in exactly that direction. Expect a deeply hazy, orange-gold pour with a substantial off-white head, and a nose that leans tropical and citrus-forward rather than resinous, in line with the New England hazy tradition rather than a West Coast-style IPA.

On the palate, a beer built to 8.9% needs real malt and oat support to keep the alcohol from poking through, and the softness that defines this style should carry that weight without feeling boozy or hot. The finish on a well-made imperial hazy stays rounded rather than sharply bitter, trading the assertive snap of a West Coast double IPA for a fuller, juicier mouthfeel. Given the strength, I would treat this as a slow-sipping beer rather than a first round of the night.

I would serve it cool, not ice-cold, in a tulip or snifter rather than a straight pint glass, so the aroma has somewhere to collect. The guide on getting more from beer with serving temperature and glass choice covers this in more detail, and it matters more with a beer this strong: too cold and the hop aroma stays locked up, too warm and the alcohol becomes the whole conversation.

How Conceptual compares with other hazy IPAs

Conceptual sits at the bigger, boozier end of the hazy IPA spectrum, closer to a dedicated double IPA drinker's pick than an easy backyard session beer. If you want a sense of how a smaller hazy IPA reads by comparison, my review of Outer Range and Commonwealth's Rippp covers a 6.7% version of the same juicy, soft hazy formula at a much more approachable strength.

Within the imperial and double hazy IPA category specifically, More Brewing Company's Thunderbird sits at a similar 8% mark and makes a useful side-by-side reference point, while Burn 'Em Brewing's Hipster Juicebag shows what triple dry-hopping does to a hazy IPA's aroma at a comparable strength. For drinkers who want to push even further past double IPA territory, Slice Beer Company's XXX OJ is a 10% triple hazy IPA worth knowing about. On the softer, lower-ABV end of the same style family, my reviews of Tired Hands' Alien Church and Tonewood's Fuego both cover 7% hazy IPAs that show the same juicy hop character without the imperial-strength kick.

Bearded Brewer's own lineup is the more useful comparison, though. The brewery runs eight or more New England-style IPAs at once across its Omaha and Longmont taprooms, most of them rotating in and out as kegs run dry, so Conceptual is best understood as one entry in a constantly changing hazy IPA program rather than a beer designed to be a permanent fixture. If you are visiting either taproom, I would ask what is currently pouring rather than asking for Conceptual specifically; it may already have moved on to the next named release.

Food pairings for Conceptual

An 8.9% hazy double IPA needs food that can stand up to both the hop volume and the alcohol. My first choice is richer, fattier proteins: a smash burger with a sharp cheddar, or brisket with a bark that has some char to it. The fruit-forward hop character cuts through fat well, and the beer's own weight matches a heartier plate rather than something light.

It also works with barbecue that leans savory rather than sweet; my guide to pairing beer with barbecue has more detail on matching smoke, sauce, and malt at this kind of strength. For spicier food, a rich, coconut-forward Thai curry or a bowl of tonkotsu ramen both give the citrus and tropical hop notes something to play against; the ramen and beer pairing guide gets into broth styles and toppings if you want to plan a full bowl around it.

Because Conceptual is strong enough to read almost like a dessert beer on its own, I would keep actual dessert pairings simple: a not-too-sweet chocolate or a mild custard rather than anything already candy-sweet, which will fight the hop character instead of complementing it.

Where to find Conceptual

Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales operates as a nano brewery with two taprooms, in Omaha and Longmont, and it does not run a wide retail distribution network. Conceptual, like most of the brewery's named hazy IPA releases, is a limited, taproom-focused pour rather than a beer stocked on grocery or liquor store shelves outside those two markets. If you are near either location, checking the current tap list before a visit is the most reliable way to know whether it is still pouring.

Because Conceptual is not currently listed among live Saucey product pages, I am not going to leave you with a dead-end “check the brewery's own site” note. The five beers below are genuine, currently available double and imperial hazy IPAs with their own live Saucey listings, picked because they sit in the same strength range and hazy, juice-forward style as Conceptual.

Similar imperial hazy IPAs to try

Time Bender is my closest style-first substitute here: a hazy double IPA at a similar strength and juice level. Hercules and Mongo both trade some of the haze for a firmer bitterness, useful if you find true imperial hazies a little one-note. Resin is the pick if you want an imperial IPA with a clearer, more traditional hop bite instead of haze. Hazy Little Thing goes the opposite direction: same soft style family, far lower strength, and far easier to find.

If you like lining up hop-forward beers side by side, I would put Conceptual next to a standard-strength hazy IPA and a firmer West Coast double IPA in the same flight. That makes the extra weight and dry hop volume in an imperial hazy much easier to spot. I often use our practical beer and food pairing guide to plan a tasting flight around the meal, and the home beer tasting party guide has a simple way to compare aromas and finishes with friends. For a different angle on how sweetness and bitterness change a pairing, our beer and dessert pairing advice is worth a look too.

My verdict on Conceptual

Conceptual earns its 4.33 rating by doing what a good imperial hazy IPA should: carrying real weight without losing the softness and juice character that makes the style approachable in the first place. The 8.9% ABV puts it firmly in double IPA territory, and Bearded Brewer's track record with hazy releases gives me confidence the hop volume backs that strength up rather than just adding boozy heat.

My main reservation is practical, not a knock on the beer itself: this is a small-batch, taproom-only release from a two-location nano brewery, so I cannot point you to a reliable retail shelf, and I cannot give you a responsible IBU number, hop bill, or calorie count from the information publicly available. Those gaps do not change how the beer is described tasting; they just mean you should treat this as a “visit the taproom and ask what is pouring” beer rather than one you can shop for online.

If you like hazy IPAs but want more alcohol and hop volume than the standard 6-7% version delivers, Conceptual is worth seeking out at either Bearded Brewer location. It is a beer I would pour for someone who already likes softer hazies and is ready to step up to the imperial end of the style.

FAQs

What style of beer is Conceptual?

Conceptual is an imperial or double New England-style hazy IPA brewed by Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales.

What is the ABV of Conceptual?

Conceptual is 8.9% ABV.

What is Conceptual’s IBU?

An IBU figure is not listed in the beer information I could verify, so a precise number should not be assumed.

What hops are used in Conceptual?

Bearded Brewer does not publish a specific hop bill for this release in the available product information. The brewery’s wider imperial hazy IPA lineup commonly uses cryo hop products and small-batch experimental varieties, but that is general house-style context rather than a confirmed Conceptual recipe.

How many calories are in Conceptual?

No verified calorie figure is published in the information available. ABV alone is not enough to calculate an accurate calorie count.

Where can I buy Conceptual?

Conceptual is a small-batch release from Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales, a nano brewery with taprooms in Omaha, Nebraska and Longmont, Colorado. It is not currently listed on Saucey; check the brewery’s tap list at either location for current availability.