Big Ugly Brewing does not do subtle names, and Maybe Today Satan is no exception. This is the Chesapeake, Virginia brewery’s flagship hazy double IPA, the beer that has quietly picked up medal after medal at the Virginia Craft Beer Awards while never leaving its home state in any real volume. I keep coming back to it because it does something a lot of hazy IPAs promise and few actually deliver: real strength without the syrupy heaviness that usually comes with pushing a hazy past 7 percent.
Maybe Today Satan at a glance
At a Glance
| Style | Hazy Double IPA (also entered as American IPA / DIPA in competition) |
| ABV | 8% |
| IBU | Not published by the brewery |
| Calories | No official figure published |
| Brewery | Big Ugly Brewing, Chesapeake, Virginia |
| Hop bill | Not published; tastes and reads as a citrus and tropical fruit-forward hop mix typical of the hazy DIPA style |
| Community rating | 3.91 out of 5 (rating count not published); a similar 3.92 shows up independently on BeerAdvocate from a small early sample |
| Best served | Cold, poured into a glass rather than straight from the can |
How it tastes, by the numbers
This is a beer built around body and hop fruit rather than sharp bitterness, which is exactly what you want from a hazy double IPA at 8%.
The full review
Maybe Today Satan pours a hazy, glowing gold, thick enough that you cannot see through the glass, which lines up with everything Big Ugly says about it being a proper haze-bomb rather than a lightly cloudy IPA wearing the label for marketing reasons. The nose is big, ripe citrus and tropical fruit, more orange and mango than pine or resin, the kind of aroma that tells you this is a hop-forward beer before you have taken a sip.
On the palate it is soft and full-bodied, with the fruit character carrying through from nose to finish, backed by just enough malt sweetness to hold the 8% ABV together. It does not drink like a beer that strength. There is a gentle warmth on the back end, but the juice covers it well, and the bitterness stays low enough that this reads more like a supercharged hazy IPA than a classic resinous double IPA.
“A haze-bomb that earns its double IPA label on strength and body without turning into a syrupy mess.”, Beer is My Life
Where this one separates itself from a lot of regional hazy DIPAs is balance. Plenty of beers in this strength range either lean too sweet or too boozy by the last few ounces of the pour. Maybe Today Satan stays drinkable through the whole glass, which is probably why it keeps winning awards against beers with bigger production budgets and wider name recognition.
- Genuinely balanced for an 8% hazy double IPA, not syrupy or hot
- Big citrus and tropical hop aroma that delivers on the nose
- Award-winning track record at the Virginia Craft Beer Awards, not just a marketing claim
- Full body without feeling like a chore to finish the can
- Brewery does not publish IBU, calories or a hop bill, so some numbers are simply not available
- Regional Virginia distribution means most drinkers outside Chesapeake will not find it on a shelf
- Not currently listed for delivery through Saucey
Big Ugly Brewing: Chesapeake’s first craft brewery
Big Ugly Brewing opened as Chesapeake, Virginia’s first craft brewery, founded by co-owners Shaun and Aaron Childers. Depending on who tells the story, it started over Vietnamese food and a personal check slid under a pint glass by an early investor who told Shaun Childers a brewery was his calling. About sixteen months later, the taproom opened its doors, and the brewery marked its ten-year anniversary in January 2025 with a Tiki Party thrown in the middle of a Virginia winter, which tells you a fair amount about the personality behind the brand.
The brewery has built a name locally on flagship beers like Peake Lager, Rockers IPA and Sunbeam Blonde alongside a rotating lineup of harder-hitting specialty releases, of which Maybe Today Satan is one of the better-known. Community support in Chesapeake has been part of the story from day one, with the brewery describing lines out the door on opening day that turned into a long list of regulars.
Award-winning: how Maybe Today Satan has done at competition
This is not a beer coasting on a good name. Maybe Today Satan has placed at Veer Magazine’s Golden Tap Awards multiple years running: it took Gold in the DIPA category and Silver in the Double IPA category in separate awards cycles, alongside Big Ugly’s wider haul of medals at the Virginia Craft Beer Awards, the US Open Beer Championship and the Great American Beer Festival for other beers in the lineup. The brewery has also picked up recognition for its taproom itself, including a Global Crushie Award for best on-premise branding and coolest taproom from the Craft Beer Marketing Awards.
That combination, a beer that keeps placing at blind and semi-blind competitions plus a taproom recognized nationally for branding, is a genuinely useful signal when you are trying to judge a beer you cannot easily find or taste yourself. Awards are not everything, but repeat placements across multiple years and multiple judging panels are a lot harder to fake than a single good review.
ABV, IBU and what is actually in the can
Maybe Today Satan sits at 8% ABV, confirmed through BeerAdvocate’s beer database, which puts it squarely in double IPA territory rather than a standard single IPA. Big Ugly Brewing has not published an IBU figure, a calorie count or a detailed hop and malt bill for this beer on its own site, which is common for a small regional brewery running frequent specialty releases rather than one flagship SKU with a full spec sheet. Rather than invent numbers that are not out there, the honest read is: this is an 8% hazy double IPA with a citrus and tropical fruit-forward hop character, low perceived bitterness for the strength, and a full body, based on tasting notes and the style itself rather than a published ingredient list.
If you want the mechanics behind why a beer like this reads as fruity rather than bitter despite the alcohol strength, our guide to what makes a hazy IPA breaks down the brewing choices, and our IBU explainer covers why a beer can taste soft even without a low bitterness number to point to.
What food pairs well with Maybe Today Satan
The fruit-forward hop profile and full body give this one some real range at the table, not just as a sipping beer on its own:
- Smoked brisket or pulled pork, where the malt backbone and fruit character stand up to smoke without getting lost.
- Spicy jerk chicken, since the citrus notes cool down the heat instead of amplifying it.
- Buffalo wings, a classic double IPA match where the carbonation and hop bitterness cut through the fat and sauce.
- Sharp aged cheddar or a funky blue cheese, both of which hold their own against the beer’s strength and fruit.
- Grilled pineapple or a mango salsa, echoing the tropical fruit in the glass rather than fighting it.
If you want more structured pairing ideas built specifically around smoke and char, our beer and BBQ pairing guide covers a wider range of styles at the grill, not just hazy IPAs.
How Maybe Today Satan compares to other hazy double IPAs
At 8% ABV, Maybe Today Satan sits in good company among the other hazy double IPAs we have reviewed. Conclave Brewing’s 5th Element leans harder into a three-way hop showcase of Citra, Rakau and Motueka, while Bearded Brewer’s Conceptual pushes even further to 8.9% and trades some drinkability for raw hop intensity. Fallside Brewing’s Night Letters, made with Long Live Beerworks, is a closer match on balance and body if you want something in the same lane as Maybe Today Satan without the extra half-point of alcohol.
If you would rather stay in standard hazy IPA range instead of double-IPA strength, Rippp from Outer Range and Commonwealth is a good reference point for what a well-built single-strength hazy looks like next to something pushed up into DIPA territory.
Where to find Maybe Today Satan
This is very much a Hampton Roads beer. The most reliable way to get it fresh is straight from the Big Ugly Brewing taproom in Chesapeake, Virginia, where it rotates through as one of the brewery’s bigger specialty releases alongside flagship beers like Peake Lager and Rockers IPA. Distribution outside coastal Virginia is limited, which is part of why it has stayed more of a regional cult favorite than a beer with national name recognition, despite the medal count.
Is Maybe Today Satan available to buy online?
Maybe Today Satan is not currently listed for delivery through Saucey, which tracks with its limited regional distribution. If you want something in the same hazy double IPA lane that you can actually get shipped, these five are genuinely comparable in style and strength:
Other Big Ugly Brewing beers to try
If Maybe Today Satan is your first Big Ugly beer, the rest of the core lineup is worth knowing about for the next taproom visit or Virginia beer run.
Rockers IPA is a West Coast-style IPA that has also picked up Golden Tap Award recognition, a good pick if you want Big Ugly’s hop character without the haze or the extra strength. Peake Lager is the brewery’s easy-drinking international lager, named for the Chesapeake area itself. Sunbeam Blonde rounds out the lineup as a light American blonde ale, and Lite B.U.B. is the low-calorie option for anyone at the table who wants something simpler alongside a round of Maybe Today Satan.
If you like this style
For background on why hazy double IPAs behave differently in the glass than a clear West Coast IPA at the same strength, our what is a hazy IPA guide is the place to start. Once you understand the style, our 5th Element review and Conceptual review cover two more hazy DIPAs at similar strength worth comparing side by side.
Who it is for
Maybe Today Satan is for drinkers who want a genuinely strong hazy IPA that still drinks clean, and who do not mind chasing down a regional Virginia release to get it. If you are near Chesapeake, it is a straightforward taproom visit. If you are not, it is a good beer to keep in mind if you ever find it on a bottle shop shelf or a tap list further from home.
The verdict
Maybe Today Satan backs up its irreverent name with a genuinely well-built 8% hazy double IPA, one that has earned its medals at the Virginia Craft Beer Awards rather than just leaning on a memorable label. The lack of published IBU and calorie numbers keeps this from being a beer you can fully spec out on paper, but on taste and balance alone, it is one of the better regional hazy DIPAs I have come across.
FAQs
What is the ABV of Maybe Today Satan?
Maybe Today Satan by Big Ugly Brewing is 8% ABV, putting it in double IPA territory.
What style of beer is Maybe Today Satan?
It is a hazy double IPA, though Big Ugly Brewing and beer competitions have also entered it as an American IPA and DIPA depending on the category.
What is the IBU of Maybe Today Satan?
Big Ugly Brewing has not published an official IBU figure for Maybe Today Satan.
Where is Maybe Today Satan brewed?
It is brewed by Big Ugly Brewing in Chesapeake, Virginia, the city’s first craft brewery.
Has Maybe Today Satan won any awards?
Yes. It has placed at Veer Magazine’s Golden Tap Awards multiple years, including a Gold in the DIPA category and a Silver in the Double IPA category in separate award cycles.
Can you buy Maybe Today Satan online?
It is not currently listed for delivery through Saucey. The most reliable way to get it is at the Big Ugly Brewing taproom in Chesapeake, Virginia, or a bottle shop within its regional Virginia distribution area.
