Debaser Review: Gravely Brewing Co’s Louisville Hazy IPA

Louisville is not the first city that comes to mind when someone says “hazy IPA,” but Gravely Brewing Co has been quietly making a strong case for it since 2017. Debaser is their flagship, a super-hazy New England IPA hopped hard with whole-cone Citra, and it is the beer that shows up on tap wherever their music-venue-meets-brewery concept plays a show. I tracked down a few cans through a Kentucky trip and a friend who kept me stocked after, and it earns its reputation as one of the juicier regional hazies I have had outside the usual New England names.

Debaser at a glance

At a Glance

How it tastes, by the numbers

This is a bigger, hoppier hazy than most of the national names. At 50 IBU it carries noticeably more bitterness than a lot of the softer New England-style cans, even though the Citra keeps the whole thing tasting like juice rather than a bitter beer.

The full review

Debaser pours a hazy, burnished gold, closer to orange juice than beer, with a thick white cap that holds for a while before settling into a light lace. The nose is all Citra: grapefruit pith, tangerine and a streak of bubblegum sweetness that hazy IPA drinkers will recognize immediately.

The palate follows the nose closely. Tropical fruit and citrus dominate up front, with a soft, almost creamy body carrying it before the 50 IBU worth of bitterness shows up at the finish. It is a firmer bitterness than most New England IPAs bother with, which keeps Debaser from tipping into the overly sweet, juice-box territory some hazies land in. It reads more like a hazy IPA with a West Coast backbone than a pure NEIPA, which tracks with Gravely calling it an American IPA on their own labeling even as most retailers file it under hazy or New England.

Whole-cone Citra is doing all the work here, not a blend of six trendy hops, and it shows in how clean the fruit character stays even as the beer warms up. A can that sits for a few minutes in a Kentucky summer does not fall apart the way some delicate hazies do, which is a real point in its favor if you are drinking outside at one of Gravely’s shows.

It is not a delicate beer. At 7% ABV and 50 IBU it drinks like a proper IPA that happens to be hazy, not a session-strength juice bomb. That is worth knowing going in if you are used to the softer, lower-bitterness style some breweries lean into with their flagship hazy.

Who is Gravely Brewing Co?

Gravely Brewing Co opened in Louisville in 2017 as a self-described “music brewery,” founded by Nathaniel Gravely, who came out of the music business, alongside brewer Cory Buenning, previously of Snake River Brewing in Wyoming. It is a family operation: Nathaniel and Cory run it with their wives, sisters Holly Gravely and Kelly Buenning. The original taproom on Baxter Avenue in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood paired a full sound system and stage with the brewhouse, and the brewery has continued to lean into that live-music identity through a 2025 move to a new Louisville location.

That music-first identity runs through the beer names too. Debaser takes its name from the Pixies song of the same title, and Gravely leans into the reference on its own tasting notes, calling out the lyric about growing up to “be, be a debaser.” It fits a brewery that also pours a West Coast IPA called Power Chord and named another beer after a Modest Mouse track. Debaser and Power Chord have been Gravely’s two flagship IPAs since the brewery expanded into statewide Kentucky can distribution through Kroger in 2020, which is still the easiest way to find it if you are not near the taproom.

Debaser’s other versions: Creamsicle and Pineapple Debaser

Once Debaser caught on, Gravely started running it through a few different variants. Creamsicle Debaser adds a vanilla and orange spin closer to the classic ice cream treat, and Pineapple Debaser tones the bitterness down slightly (46 IBU instead of 50) while adding real pineapple character on top of the same Citra-forward base. Both keep the 7% ABV of the original. If you can find any of the three on tap at the same time, it is worth doing a side-by-side to see how much a single fruit addition changes the profile.

What food pairs well with Debaser

The citrus and tropical fruit from the Citra hops, plus the firmer bitterness, make this a solid food beer rather than just a sipper. A few pairings that actually work:

• Tacos al pastor, especially with a pineapple garnish. The char and citrus marinade echo the beer’s own fruit character almost note for note.
• Spicy Nashville hot chicken, since the extra bitterness and body can stand up to real heat better than a softer hazy would.
• Grilled shrimp or fish tacos with a lime crema, which plays well against the grapefruit pith in the aroma.
• A sharp cheddar and pepper jack board, a good low-effort pairing if you are just cracking a can at home.
• Bourbon-glazed pork, a nod to the beer’s Kentucky roots, where the sweetness and smoke both hold up against the hop punch.

How Debaser compares to other hazy IPAs

Debaser sits on the hoppier, firmer end of the hazy IPA spectrum. Compared to a national flagship like Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing, which sits at 35 IBU and leans soft and creamy, Debaser is noticeably more bitter and a touch more aggressive, closer to what you would expect from an American IPA wearing a hazy costume. If you have tried Hipster Juicebag or Electric Jellyfish, both triple dry-hopped hazies built for maximum juice, Debaser reads as the more restrained, drier option of the three, with real bitterness doing some of the work those beers leave entirely to hop oils.

Against a beer like Pleasantly Hazy or Homewrecker IPA, both softer regional hazies, Debaser is the pick if you want a hazy that still tastes like an IPA rather than a fruit smoothie. If you are still getting a feel for what separates a true New England IPA from an American IPA wearing haze, our guide to what makes a hazy IPA breaks down the differences, and our IBU explainer is worth a read if 50 IBU on a hazy sounds unusually high to you, since most of the style sits well under 40.

Where to buy Debaser

Gravely distributes Debaser mostly around Kentucky, through their own taproom and statewide grocery and retail accounts, and it is not currently listed for delivery on Saucey. If you cannot get your hands on the real thing, these five are genuinely similar Citra-forward hazy IPAs that are available for delivery and worth trying in the meantime.

If you like this style

Who it is for

If you like your hazy IPAs with a real hop bite instead of a soft, sweet finish, Debaser is worth tracking down, especially if you are ever in Louisville and can catch it fresh at the taproom during a show. It is also a good pick for drinkers who find most NEIPAs a little too much like juice and want something that still reads as a proper IPA.

The verdict

Debaser earns its spot as Gravely Brewing Co’s flagship hazy IPA. Whole-cone Citra gives it clean, honest tropical fruit character, and 50 IBU of real bitterness keeps it from drifting into juice-box territory the way a lot of softer regional hazies do. Between the original, Creamsicle Debaser and Pineapple Debaser, there is a version of this beer for whichever mood you are in, and all three are worth seeking out if you find yourself in Kentucky.

FAQs

What is the ABV of Debaser by Gravely Brewing Co?

Debaser is 7.0% ABV. The Creamsicle and Pineapple Debaser variants are also both 7.0% ABV.

What is the IBU of Debaser?

50 IBU on the original Debaser. The Pineapple Debaser variant is slightly lower at 46 IBU.

What hops are used in Debaser?

Gravely brews Debaser with whole-cone Citra hops, dry-hopped heavily for its aroma and haze.

Is Debaser available outside Kentucky?

Distribution is centered on Kentucky, through Gravely’s own taproom and statewide grocery and retail accounts. It is not currently listed for national delivery on Saucey.

What is the difference between Debaser, Creamsicle Debaser and Pineapple Debaser?

The original Debaser is a straight Citra-forward hazy IPA. Creamsicle Debaser adds vanilla and orange character, and Pineapple Debaser adds real pineapple on top of a slightly lower 46 IBU base.

Where does the name Debaser come from?

It is a reference to the Pixies song of the same name, fitting for Gravely Brewing Co’s music-venue-and-brewery concept in Louisville.