Category Archives: 2 – Maybe (likely wouldn’t buy, might drink)

Crooked Stave Hop Savant (Citra)

Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from bottle) American brettanomyces India Pale Ale with Citra.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in May 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear golden yellow colour (as there’s still a lot left in the bottle) with a huge rather uncontrollable frothy white head that dissipates slowly while leaving a fair bit of soapy lacing.
Aroma: Band-aid, barnyard, brett, citrus lemon and apricot plus hints of pineapple.
Taste: Lots of brett, band-aid, leather, pepper spiciness, orange peel and apricot.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: There’s just a lot of funky brett with some light fruit sweetness towards the end. For me, it just seemed to be missing some tart and sour fruit to help balance out the flavours a bit.

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Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale

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.

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To Øl Nelson Survin

Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark
ABV: 9%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Sour mashed Double India Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Continuing the sour fling – this is our sour DIPA boasting with Nelson Sauvin hops. Crazy tropical sour notes, all in one beer. We call it Sourvin…

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.07
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 2nd June 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A murky cloudy orange brown colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention and some lacing.
Aroma: White wine, grape, apple, lemon and orange.
Taste: Sour, tart, pineapple, apricot, white wine, grapes, apple cider vinegar, grapefruit zest and some light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation with some alcohol coming through.
Overall: This didn’t really come together for me. The sourness just felt like it was missing something and there was just a bit too much alcohol showing for the style… although granted, it is 9% ABV.

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Ballast Point California Amber

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 51 IBUs. ESB-inspired ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Our California Amber takes its inspiration from traditional English ESBs. Four types of malt gives it a bold complexity, and our proprietary yeast strain lends it a fruity, madeira-like richness. However, it’s the American hops that give this ale a distinct bite and floral aroma that have earned it just about every major beer medal.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.54
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16321, meaning that it was bottled on 16th November 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear dark copper colour with an orange-reddish hue and a slightly less than two finger cream head that had great retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: A touch light but there’s caramel malt and pine with hints of fruit and herbs.
Taste: It’s exactly what I expected from the aroma with sweet caramel malt, toffee, pine and fruit with a bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A decent amber ale that I’d drink again, but not sure I’d want to pay for it.

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Stone & Wood Green Coast Lager

Brewery: Stone & Wood Brewing Company
Country: Australia
ABV: 4.7%
Style: International Pale Lager

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Influenced by the surrounding green hills that roll down to meet the Pacific Ocean, Green Coast is brewed with a blend of the finest malts and left unfiltered to create a beer that has a light amber colour with a natural yeast cloud, and a flavour that strikes a fine balance between its subtle hop aroma and full malt palate, finishing soft and clean.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.6
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 8th March 2017. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: A very slightly hazy golden yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malts and maybe a little musty at times. Not getting any of these supposed ‘subtle hop aroma’.
Taste: Sweet malts with some grassy notes.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Can be refreshing on a hot day, but nothing special.

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