3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Canada, Driftwood Brewery

Driftwood Fat Tug IPA

Tuesday, 22 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Driftwood Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Take a deep breath, sailor. It’s difficult to fathom, but such monstrous hop bitterness can be foiled by ample malt buoyancy; this hop monster dwells in the deep, its tendrils raised to Hoppy Nirvana.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: At first glance, there was no bottled on date, and I bought it anyway. Only after I got home and poured it out could I finally see this faint dating on the neck of the bottle in the light and I was kind of disappointed. To have a bottling date is great, but it should also be clearly shown… not hidden away only to be seen at certain angles. But anyway, this was a 650ml bottle with a bottled on date of 12th April 2016, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange colour with a big three finger off white head that had good retention and left lots of sticky lacing.
Aroma: Strong orange, orange juice and orange zest aromas, tropical mango and passionfruit notes here and there along with pine and light caramel.
Taste: Lightly bitter citrus grapefruit, orange and orange zest. Sweet caramel malts, lightly biscuity, pine resin with a touch of pineapple.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This IPA was pretty good with nice bitterness, albeit also a little on the sweet side for me with the caramel, biscuit and pineapple.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Australia, Beer Reviews, Pirate Life Brewing

Pirate Life Throwback IPA

Monday, 21 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Pirate Life Brewing
Country: Australia
ABV: 3.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 35 IBUs. Malts – Maris Otter, Carapils, Crystal and Wheat. Hops – Crystal, NZ Cascade and Simcoe.

Brewer Description: (from website) We love beer! We love beer so much that we want drink beer pretty much all of the time. Unfortunately the level of alcohol in most beer, with any hint of flavour, has quite the profound effect on us performing as a functioning and productive human. We need a reduced alcohol solution. Enter our Throwback IPA. Designed for intelligent and sexy humans who’d like to be able to throw back a few cans of a zealously hopped ale, endowed with an ample malt chassis, and still get on with their day.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.63
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 355ml can with no canned on or best before date, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper amber colour with a big three finger off white head that held its own for a while before suddenly collapsing on itself, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tropical pineapple and passion fruit with citrus grapefruit, orange and orange peel. There is also some pine notes.
Taste: Strong biscuit malt backed with pine, citrusy grapefruit and orange zest. Nice bitter on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Easy light drinking.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Japan, Tamamura-Honten

Tamamura-Honten Harvest Summer Saison

Monday, 21 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Tamamura-Honten
Country: Japan
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: See picture below since the description is in Japanese.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled in September 2016, poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange amber colour with a slightly less than two finger off white head that dissipated over a minute but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Biscuit malt, tropical peach and apricot, bubblegum, lemon tea and some mild funk.
Taste: Sweet peach/lemon tea, tangy, bubblegum, pine, grass, mint with a touch of spiciness and light bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: It’s not what I was expecting, but it’s ok. Perhaps a bit too sweet for me, in that I definitely can’t have more than one bottle at a time (and in fact probably even prefer to share a bottle). Having said that, it would definitely be a refreshing beer during a hot summer.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Peach de Brettaville

Thursday, 17 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Farmhouse ale aged in wine barrels with peaches.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in November 2015, and poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden straw orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, mildly funky, light oak with some peach, pineapple and lemon. Think along the lines of sour peach ring gummy candy.
Taste: Sour and tangy with only light funkiness. Fruity peach with a sharp citrus lemon and orange peel flavour and acidity. There is also a touch of vinegar, white wine and earthy oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: This is good. A very nice sour from Almanac that is tasty and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Petite Sour Pure Guava

Tuesday, 15 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Mixed fermentation ale aged in oak with tropical fruits.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml bottle bottled in August 2015, poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden colour with a less than one finger white head that dissipated almost immediately and leaves only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Funk, sour, tartness and oak. Tropical fruit, mostly guava, passionfruit and mango.
Taste: Sour, tart and funky. Fruit is a bit light, but its there. Citrus lemon followed by some tropical guava and grapes. Lightly oaky on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice tart sourness but the fruit especially guava (since that is in the name) was on the light side.

words of another dreamy traveller

Monthly Archives: November 2016