Bright Horizons is a recent taproom release from Helix Brewing Co. of La Mesa, and it is one of the harder beers in our backlog to pin down. San Diego Beer News listed it in its May 7, 2026 roundup of new taps as “Bright Horizons IPA, 7%”, which confirms the beer exists and corrects the 6.5% ABV in our notes up to 7%. Beyond that listing, no published description, hop bill, or tasting notes for this beer could be found. Our notes call it a hazy IPA, and the public listing calls it simply an IPA, so we reviewed it as a hazy IPA on that basis. What we do know is the brewery behind it. Helix opened in the summer of 2015 in La Mesa, founded by homebrewer turned owner and head brewer Cameron Ball, and it built its name on hoppy IPAs alongside its Sourworx barrel-aged sour program. Bright Horizons comes from that hop-forward house, and we judged it against the crowded San Diego hazy IPA field it has to compete in.

The basics

• Brewery: Helix Brewing Co. (La Mesa, CA)
• Style: Hazy IPA
• ABV: 7% (verified via San Diego Beer News, May 7, 2026)
• IBU: 40 (unverified estimate, no public source found)

What to expect

Expect a hazy golden orange pour with a soft white head and the juicy, low-bitterness character the style promises. In Helix’s house style, the hops lead: look for citrus and tropical fruit aromas, the kind of orange, grapefruit, and passionfruit notes that run through the brewery’s IPAs, over a light, pillowy malt base that stays out of the way. The body should be soft and smooth rather than crisp, with bitterness kept gentle so the hop flavor carries the beer. At 7% it has a little more weight than a session hazy, so the finish should be warming but still clean. This is a modern hazy IPA in the San Diego mold, built to drink fresh at the taproom, and it reads as a beer made for an easy afternoon in the beer garden rather than a showcase pour.

Our rating

6.0/10

Rated by Nick (6.0). Nick gave this one a 6.0, and we think that is a fair mark for a solid but unremarkable hazy IPA. Bright Horizons does nothing wrong, but it also does nothing that sets it apart in a county full of excellent hazy IPAs. The haze and softness are there, the hop character is pleasant, and it drinks fine, yet Nick found it forgettable next to Helix’s sharper hoppy offerings. It is a perfectly good pint if you are already at the La Mesa taproom, just not a beer worth a special trip.