Category Archives: 3 – Indifferent (might buy, probably drink)

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA

Prairie Prairie Ale

Tuesday, 1 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 8.2%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Prairie Ale is our classic saison. We brew this beer with pilsner malt, wheat malt, flaked wheat, and cane sugar. A healthy dose of saaz hops are used to add a spicy element to the beer. Prairie Ale is fermented with a mix of ale yeast, wine yeast, and brettanomyces. Notes of black pepper and pineapple can be found in this beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 24114, meaning it was bottled on 29th August 2014. It was poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden colour with a 2 finger pillowy white head that dissipates slowly leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Nice funky farmhouse aromas with some pineapple, sour apple, light honey, some citrus and pepper.
Taste: Lemon juice, green apple, honey and pepper. Surprisingly a little on the sweet side.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Great colour and aromas although it was surprisingly on the sweet side for me.

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.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Birra del Borgo, Herbed / Spiced Beer, Italy

Birra del Borgo Etrusca

Tuesday, 16 February 2016 kitch 4 Comments

Brewery: Birra del Borgo
Country: Italy
ABV: 9.3%
Style: Herbed / Spiced Beer
Other Notes: Brewed with honey, pomegranate, hazelnut flour, pomegranate juice, raisins, natural resin and gentian root.

Brewer Description: (from website) A sip of history! Created together with our friends Sam Calagione and Dr. Pat McGovern from the States and Baladin’s founder Teo Musso, that’s really something unique: as we used unusual ingredients (for a beer) and most of all an unusual fermentation system (the amphoras!), the result is a real “archeological find”. The amber colour reminds the amphora-aged wines; the nose gives scents of honey and berries and quite uncommon mineral notes. When you taste it, sharpness is the main feature, and the honey notes are quickly followed by mineral ones, again. So, the few ones who will have the chance to taste this extremely rare beer (which has been made in a very limited quantity, of course) will be able to say that he had a sip of history!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of March 2016, poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy murky dark orange colour with pretty much no head.
Aroma: Sour, tart, grapes, vinegar, woody and citrus lemon, maybe even a hint of apple juice.
Taste: Sour, tart, fruity pomegranate, apple, apple juice and apple cider vinegar with a minerally finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low carbonation but with a prickly feel.
Overall: This was interesting. The sourness was nice, but I did not really like the minerally finish and it was on the flat side for me.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Pernicious Weed

Thursday, 11 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Nelson Sauvin and Rakau.

Brewer Description: (from can) Humulus Lupulus, the original “wicked and pernicious weed”. Nelson Sauvin and Rakau hops go head to head in this strong golden brew, for an intense citrus grapefruit character. Bitter, yes. Intensely hoppy? Absolutely. Too much? Never.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.81
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 8th March 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange with a two finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruity mango and pineapple with pine, grapefruit and grassy notes.
Taste: Bitter citrus grapefruit, pine and grass with some light malt sweetness. However, at times, the alcohol booze seemed to creep out.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: This was a pretty good DIPA, but as a DIPA, I’d prefer if it was able to completely hide the alcohol taste, but other than that, it was nice and bitter.

words of another dreamy traveller