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

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Trip Hop

Sunday, 6 December 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Malts – Carahelles, Vienna and Caraaroma. Hops – Pacifica, Motueka and Riwaka.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We love NZ hops. How much? Here’s how much. Triple hopped with, Pacifica, Motueka and Riwaka hops in increasingly lavish quantities throughout the boil, Trip Hop’s bitter but balanced on a generous malt base. Rich amber red and redolent of the Nelson hop fields. Think easy drinking for resin heads and pucker up.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 650ml bottle with a best before date of 9th January 2016, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper amber colour with a two finger cream coloured head that dissipated slowly leaving lots of stringy lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy orange and lemon, bready malts, grapefruit. There’s also some pine and flowery hops.
Taste: Taste is malty, bready, light caramel and sweet-ish before the hops kick in and gives a lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light crisp carbonation.
Overall: More malty and less hoppy than I expected considering its triple hopped. A little disappointing but GP have a lot of other good offerings and for IPAs, I prefer their Garagista IPA.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Lager - Märzen / Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele, USA

Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele Oktoberfest

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. x Brauhaus Riegele
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: German Oktoberfest/Märzen
Other Notes: Fall seasonal, one time only.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We partnered with one of Germany’s oldest breweries – Brauhaus Riegele – to create a true festival beer unlike any other brewed in the USA. Using traditional techniques and ingredients, we’re bringing the style back to its authentic roots with a deep golden color, delicate hop note and rich malt complexity.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle packaged on 17th August 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden orange colour with a one and a half finger slightly off white coloured head that had pretty good retention.
Aroma: Toasty bread with honey and apple with a hint of caramel. Generally its the sweet aroma.
Taste: Leans on the sweet side and definitely malty and bready with some grain plus hints of caramel and toffee.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.
Overall: This was decent and easy to drink but nothing exceptional, though it is worth a try. It’s a one time brew, but even if I could buy it again, I’m not sure I would.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American Pale Lager, Beer Reviews, Jack’s Abby Brewing, USA

Jack’s Abby Jabby Brau

Tuesday, 6 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Jack’s Abby Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: American Pale Lager
Other Notes: 20 IBUs. Malt – Pilsner, Munich.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Deep golden in color, this lager balances Pilsner and Munich malt with aromatic American hops. This beer starts hoppy but finishes unexpectedly malty with very low bitterness. Impressively flavourful and drinkable, we dub this beer a “Session Lager.” Jabby Brau uses locally sourced ingredients.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with no bottled on date and poured into a pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden colour with a light one finger white head that dissipates to a foamy layer with only very light lacing.
Aroma: Bready malts, pine and some light citrus orange peel, lemon and lime.
Taste: Grassy, honey and brown sugar sweetness, caramel and bready malts, corn and light hop bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I’m not normally a lager person, but Jack’s Abby are definitely changing my views and showing me what can actually be done with lagers. In this case, Jack’s Abby has produced another lager that would better most, but still falls a little flat.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Asahi Breweries Ltd., Beer Reviews, English Pale Ale, Japan

Asahi Craftsmanship Dry Pale Ale

Saturday, 5 September 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Asahi Breweries Ltd.
Country: Japan
ABV: 5.5%
Style: English Pale Ale

Brewer Description: Unfortunately words on the can was in Japanese and I can’t read Japanese!

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.61
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.5

Intro: A 500ml can with a canned date of March 2015 and poured into a pint glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a clear copper amber colour with a one finger white head that dissipates quickly. Leaves only some light lacing.
Aroma: Starts mainly with sweet and bready malts, some caramel and apple juice with hints of plum, lemon and floral hop.
Taste: Sweet biscuit malt and caramel, bland apple juice, light bitter grassy hops with a hint of lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: This was ok, its not terrible or anything, but I’m not sure I’d spend money to buy this again.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, Gose - Fruit, USA

Almanac Golden Gate Gose

Thursday, 20 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: Gose – Fruit
Other Notes: Tart wheat beer brewed with local coriander, lemon verbana and San Francisco Bay sea salt.

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Golden Gate Gose is inspired by the classic wheat beer hailing from Leipzig, Germany. Traditionally brewed with salt and coriander, our tart California-inspried version is brewed with San Francisco Bay sea salt, lemon verbena from Eatwell Farm in Dixon, and coriander grown and dried especially for us by Dirty Girl Produce in Santa Cruz, California. Fermented with our house saison yeast, this delicate and tart beer is a perfect summer refresher. Pair with fresh seafood and sunshine.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 22 fl oz bomber poured into a pint glass. There is a batch number or date or something, but that’s been rubbed off such that unfortunately, its not legible.
Appearance: The beer poured a clear golden colour with a two finger white head that dissipates quickly leaving only some light lacing. NOTE – actually that was until I poured the final 1/8 of the bottle into the glass later on after which it turned a milky haziness which to be honest did not look too good at all.
Aroma: Tart lemon and honey stands out, also some hints of coriander. But occasionally, there was some in my opinion slightly unpleasant smell I can only describe as dank. I can’t really put my finger on why, and it was only occasional, but it was there.
Taste: Much better than the smell, the taste begins tart and sour, mainly crisp apple and lemon. This is followed by some sweetness of honey and vanilla. Then finishes with a nice long lasting salt aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Actually, the taste is quite good and I enjoyed it, but the milky haziness look wasn’t too nice and the occasional dankness smell that appears brings it down a bit for me.

words of another dreamy traveller