Blue Moon White IPA might be the mashup for which you’ve been waiting.

If you’re wondering why that bottle of not-for-resale Blue Moon White IPA is sitting in a plant, it’s because I’m bored of normal beer photos. I’ve figuratively seen billions of them on Instagram, and quite frankly, I don’t care anymore. Now all my booze porn will have a weird background, Sad Keanu, my boy Víðarr, or all three.

Blue Moon White IPA bastardizes the most popular style in America, with a ridiculous 21% of all craft beer being IPAs, and their well-known White Ale. Think of it like Blue Moon on steroids, only instead of needle holes, unmitigated rage, and shrunken balls, you get a lot more hops. Specifically Huell Melon hops.

As you can probably guess, assuming you’re not currently drunk, Huell Melon hops taste like melon. This doesn’t mean your beer is going to taste like the most insulting part of a fruit salad though. It means that you get extra hops that still aren’t overwhelming. The melon plays nicely with the citrus, but more importantly for core Blue Moon fans, it doesn’t turn their Blue Moon into a Mikkeller 1000 IBU. It’s also dry-hopped to pack some extra aroma without bonus bitterness.

A photo posted by Cassidy Doller (@cassidydoller) on Feb 28, 2015 at 3:52pm PST

When I first received the press release for Blue Moon White IPA, my mind immediately shot to an article titled “Trappist Breweries Vote to Reclassify Every Beer as IPA” from Inebriate Inquirer (drunken satire). Sadly the site seems to have been shuttered, most likely after one too many benders, but I did find some snippets on Brewtastic.

“Though we are pious servants to the Lord first and foremost, we are also running a business here” said Orval brewmaster, Father Nelson “So, in the end, we must give the customer what they want, and apparently what they really want is just to see those three letters printed on the bottle somewhere”

________________________________________________ “First it was Double IPA, which is like, sure, fine, but then came the Wheat IPAs… then Rye IPAs… then Session IPAs… Triple IPAs… Fruit IPAs… You think most of these are actually IPAs?” argued one Trappist Monk who wished to remain anonymous, “Oh and then of course there’s Black IPAs– Seriously, a BLACK, PALE Ale? Come on! That doesn’t even make sense!

It seems like everyone is creating some sort of bastard child of the IPA now, and it’s no surprise that Blue Moon wanted to get in on the action. IPAs are great, and Blue Moon White IPA plays to the brand’s strengths without going too far off the deep end. Current Blue Moon drinkers are in for a treat, and they will likely pull in a number of new fans. They also run the risk of pushing beer lovers the other way though. Once people get a taste for tongue-numbing hops, it’s tough to go back.