4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA

Prairie Prairie Hop

Friday, 26 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 35 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Prairie Hop is our hop driven saison. This beer is packed with Simcoe and Citra hops. Notes of peach, mango, and tangerine can be found in the flavor and aroma of this beer. The beer finishes dry which helps the hops jump out of the glass flavor wise.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 1 pint 0.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 19515, meaning it was bottled on 14th July 2015. It was poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy light gold colour (maybe even a bit murky) with a huge 3 finger white head that had good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical pineapple, mango and peach, some grassiness and pear with a peppery mandarin finish.
Taste: Starts with biscuity bready malts, slight tartness with tropical mango and peach, followed by grassy and floral notes, some citrus zestiness and a mandarin, white peppery spice finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: Overall a great saison with nice tropical, zesty and spicy notes.

5 - Excellent (must buy), American Pale Wheat Ale, Beer Reviews, Modern Times Beer, USA

Modern Times Fortunate Islands with Grapefruit Zest

Tuesday, 23 February 2016 kitch 2 Comments

Brewery: Modern Times Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
Other Notes: 46 IBUs. Hops – Citra and Amarillo. Malts – Wheat, Two Row and Caramel Vienna.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Fortunate Islands is the citrusy, Citra-loaded, bomb-diggity hoppy wheat beer that we brew year round. This marvelously grapefruity variation on it came about when we made a few one-off kegs with intemperate quantities of grapefruit zest back in July 2013. The results were so painfully refreshing & agonizingly awesome that we knew we had to make more. So here it is: a special release that tastes like summer and goes with everything. Enjoy!

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 22 oz bomber with no visible bottled on date, poured into a Spiegelau American wheat beer glass.
Appearance: It poured a very nice clear golden colour with a 2 finger puffy white head with pretty good retention that eventually settles to a thin layer and leaves some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong grapefruit zest with some flowery and grassy notes. Tropicalness creeps in every now and then with mango and peach.
Taste: Much like the aromas, very strong grapefruit and grapefruit zest with a hint of mango. There is some mandarin sweetness and wheat flavours towards the end.
Mouthfeel: Very crisp, light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I have not tried the base beer, but this was very nice. Being light and crisp, it goes down very easy and could easily be an everyday beer for me. I would definitely buy more if I could, except that I can’t find this in Hong Kong…

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, IPA - White, Lagunitas Brewing Company, USA

Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale

Saturday, 20 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: IPA – White
Other Notes: 65 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) So we’re all on collective disability. That’s cool. Let’s put some ice on it and keep ourselves elevated for a while. So, what’s on the tube..? Honey..? Get me a beer from the fridge… Will ya..? Sweetie..? Pleeease..?

(from website) Way smooth and silky with a nice wheatly-esque-ishness. A truly unique style featuring a strong hop finish on a silky body. A hoppy pale wheat ale that is great for IPA fans but so smooth that the hefeweizen fans dig it too.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 oz bottle with Julian date of 222 5, so bottled on 10th August 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau American wheat beer glass.
Appearance: It poured a nice clear clean golden copper colour with a one finger off white head that stuck around for a while and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong grapefruit, pine and mandarin with a hint of bready wheat malt sweetness. There’s also a hint of lime.
Taste: Grapefruit, lemon zest and pine bitterness with orange, mandarin and light honey sweetness. The finish is a light bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: This was not bad but perhaps started out a little on the sweet side for me. I didn’t get much of the wheatiness though, but the lightly bitter finish was nice.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Innis & Gunn, Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy, Scotland

Innis & Gunn Rum Finish Oak Aged Beer

Thursday, 18 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Innis & Gunn
Country: Scotland
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Scottish Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
Other Notes: Rum Finish is the same beer as Rum Cask as the recipe is the same but only the process changed slightly. Malts – Innis & Gunn Ale, Crystal, Roasted Barley and Chocolate. Hops – Super Styrian. Matured for 57 days in oak heartwood infused with specially selected rums.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This ruby red beer is matured over the finest rum-infused American Oak heartwood resulting in a beer with a delicious warming character that is bursting with fruit and lively spiciness. These vibrant flavours perfectly balance the beer’s toffee-malt backbone making it an ideal accompaniment to game meats like venison or duck. It is sublime with mature cheeses served with good chutneys and relishes.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before end of March 2016 date and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark reddish copper with a slightly less than one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong vanilla, raisins and oak with hints of toffee, caramel and rum.
Taste: Sweet-ish rum and plum with a nice long vanilla, oak, coconut finish. There was also some hints of caramel and butterscotch in between.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and interesting albeit a bit vanilla heavy. I would not categorise this as an everyday drink but it’s something I wouldn’t mind trying every now and then.

4 - Good (buy), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Onda Mosaic Pale Ale

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 kitch 1 Comment

Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 5%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) Me and Karl reached out to Onda of STHLM Inkasso over a year ago. With beats and a rap flow like no other he had inspired us to brew a beer. Onda is a smooth pale ale brewed with 100% Mosaic hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 11th March 2016 poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy dark yellow colour with a big puffy 3 finger white head that has good retention and leaves thick sticky lacing.
Aroma: Very juicy tropical fruit especially mango, passionfruit, peach and apricot. There is also a hint of pine and citrus lemon.
Taste: Starts tropical with mango and pineapple before slowly turning lightly bitter with pine, lemon and grapefruit taking over.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: A nice pale ale that is easy to drink and refreshing.

words of another dreamy traveller

Monthly Archives: February 2016