2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Witbier, Cigar City Brewing, USA

Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Witbier
Other Notes: White Ale brewed with curacao peel and coriander

Brewer Description: (from can) The Cracker Cowboys of Florida were colonial-era settlers, often of Scots-Irish descent, who arrived in Florida when Spain traded their territory of La Florida to the English. The term Cracker in Florida usage relates to the whip these “cow hunters” used to herd cattle in Florida’s Palmetto Prairies. Called Quaqueros by the Spanish, these hardy and hard working Cracker Cowboys helped to shape the history of Florida, the nation’s oldest cattle raising state. We brew Florida Cracker White Ale with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander and then ferment it with a French Saison yeast strain to give it a spicy and dry finish. Perfect for a warm day on the Palmetto Prairie.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 7th September 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau Wheat Ale glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Wheat, coriander, clove and overripe banana sweetness with a hint of citrus peel.
Taste: Coriander and wheat upfront with a touch of lemon citrusness. However after that, the taste just suddenly falls off to almost nothing.
Mouthfeel: Dry-ish, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was certainly refreshing and quite nice when it first hits your mouth, but after that, I felt that its main problem appeared which was that the taste just falls off really quickly to nothing after the initial hit.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Australia, Beer Reviews, Mountain Goat Beer Pty. Ltd.

Mountain Goat Rare Breed Pulped Fiction Blood Orange IPA

Tuesday, 21 February 2017 kitch 2 Comments

Brewery: Mountain Goat Beer Pty. Ltd.
Country: Australia
ABV: 7.8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Water – Melbourne water. Malt – Vienna, Redback, American Ale, Maris Otter, Pale Crystal and Shepherd’s Delight. Hops – Citra and Mosaic. Adjunct – Blood Orange.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This is a Double IPA with a blast of real blood orange juice added during secondary fermentation. The tang from the juice combines with the citrus-like characters of Citra and Mosaic hops creating a sensation equal parts bitter and tart. It’s big, clean and thirst quenching.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 640ml bottle with a best before date of 30th November 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Poured a clear copper colour with a slight orange hue, a one finger off white head that settles to a thin layer with sticky lacing.
Aroma: Pine, citrusy grapefruit and orange rind, pith and peel with hints of tropical mango and caramel malt.
Taste: Citrus orange rind and pith with grapefruit peel bitterness, some resinous pine, with a good touch of sweet caramel malt and blood orange to balance.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and easy to drink. A good balance between the hop bitterness and sweet-ish caramel malt. It’s probably on the border of being between an IPA and Double IPA, but overall, I’d say that it’s an enjoyable Double IPA.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Amager Bryghus x Prairie Artisan Ales, Beer Reviews, Denmark, Farmhouse Saison

Amager x Prairie Tulsa Twister

Monday, 20 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Amager Bryghus x Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Batch no. 865

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Hopefully we don’t insult anybody by claiming that Oklahoma was quite a beer wasteland until just recently. Then, along came the brothers Healey, Colin and Chase, with guts, stamina and an awful lot of talent. And well, the rest is history… Prairie – originally a gypsy operation – soon became one of the most buzzed about craft breweries, not only in Oklahoma, not only in the US, but in the world. So when these dudes were invited to the Copenhagen Beer Celebration it was only natural for us to invite them to Amager also. And naturally the style chosen for our collaboration had to be a Farmhouse Saison, a style that Prairie has very much excelled at brewing. One of the Amager crew is still terribly ashamed of sleeping through a tornado warning at a motel room somewhere in Oklahoma years ago, so out of respect for the powers from above we named the beer “Tulsa Twister”. As loud and frightening as a twister is, as cool and laid back are the dudes from Prairie. We had a great day of brewing and friendship – we hope it shows in the beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 500ml bottle, batch no. 865 with a best before date of September 2017. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: A cloudy golden yellow orange colour with a big fluffy three finger white head that has great retention and left some thick lacing.
Aroma: Funky, tropical mango plus citrus orange and lemon.
Taste: Funky, grassy, hay, orange, lemon, floral and pepper spice.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable collaboration between two great breweries. The pepper was perhaps a touch too overpowering, but its still a nice Saison to drink.

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

Founders Azacca India Pale Ale

Friday, 17 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from packaging) Named after the Haitian God of Agriculture. The Azacca hop has an intense tropical aroma with hints of citrus and mango. A touch of caramel malt gives a sweet backbone to support the righteous fruit character of this beer. Pouring a burnt orange color and registering at 7.0% ABV. Your taste buds will worship this heavenly, hopped delight.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 10th May 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a big three finger off white head that had great retention and lacing.
Aroma: Mango, pineapple, orange and pine with lingering citrus rind and zest.
Taste: Sweet caramel malts with tropical mango and pineapple, followed by pine and bitter citrus rind and zest. There’s also a touch of herbal and floral element on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: This was a decent IPA, but a touch on the sweet side for me as I prefer nice long lasting bitterness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

Founders Lizard of Koz

Thursday, 16 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial Stout brewed with blueberries, chocolate and vanilla. Aged in bourbon barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no visible bottled on or best by date. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, milk chocolate, vanilla and sour blueberries. It sounds good, but this combination in this form was a bit of a disappointment for me.
Taste: Overwhelming sweet blueberries and chocolate with only a touch of vanilla. I feel the bourbon is actually there too, kind of creeps in here and there, but is just completely covered by the blueberries.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: This seems to be a love or hate beer for a lot of people, even though I appear to be kind of in the middle. I shared this with my girlfriend who had about 200ml, while I finished the other 550ml. The first few sips were actually pretty good, but towards the end, due to the sweetness, it was slow going trying to finish it. I felt this would have been better in a 12 fl oz bottle. This way, one person could enjoy it and you could just open another bottle if you needed more. Perhaps aging this would make it better by toning down the blueberries, but as always, there’s no guarantees.

words of another dreamy traveller

Monthly Archives: February 2017