Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), AleSmith Brewing Company, American IPA, Beer Reviews, USA

AleSmith IPA

Tuesday, 14 March 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.25%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: San Diego-style India Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from can) Our hometown of San Diego is considered the epicenter of its namesake style of India Pale Ale – extremely crisp, highly drinkable beers brimming over with hop aromas and bright yet not overly bitter hop flavors. AleSmith IPA is the progenitor of this rightfully popular style. A bright bouquet of grapefruit and tangerine aromas gives way to an abundance of fresh piney, tropical notes on the taste buds with lingering resinous sensations in the finish for quintessential San Diego IPA experience showcasing the versatility of American hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 12 fl oz can, canned on 5th October 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy, light copper orange colour with a nice two finger off white head with good retention and great lacing.
Aroma: Tropical pineapple and apricot with citrus orange, pine and sweet biscuit malt.
Taste: Citrusy and bitter orange peel, mandarin and grapefruit followed by sweet-ish pineapple, biscuit malt and pine. The finish has a nice long resinous bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, dry-ish, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A wonderfully tasty and balanced West Coast IPA. Also loving the cans!

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Stigbergets Bryggeri, Sweden

Stigbergets West Coast IPA

Monday, 13 March 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stigbergets Bryggeri
Country: Sweden
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: Could not find any information on this beer in English on their website or on the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, batch 579, with a best before date of 10th July 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A hazy darkish orange colour with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong pineapple and papaya with hints of mango, grapefruit and pine here and there.
Taste: Pineapple and mango tropical fruit starts and ends quickly, followed by a long lemon peel, lemon tea, pine and grapefruit bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: What I liked about GBG and Amazing Haze was the tropical fruit flavours. With this West Coast IPA, the tropical flavours were there, but only for a second; they disappeared too fast. Having said that, it is still a very nice and enjoyable IPA.

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

Crooked Stave Mama Bear’s Sour Cherry Pie

Thursday, 23 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

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

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Burgundy sour ale aged in oak barrels with Colorado Montmorency cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in September 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly cloudy dark reddish brown colour, with a just over one finger reddish beige head that dissipated slowly and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart and sweet cherry, oak and perhaps a light funk.
Taste: Sour, strong lemon juice with some cherry and oak creeping through here and there and hints of almond. Long acidic sour finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: While there was some sweetness in the aroma, it was pretty much mostly sour with an acidic bite in the taste. I think you really have to like sour things to enjoy this beer and luckily I do like sour things. Would have preferred it, if more cherries came through though, since cherry pie is in the name, but that is not a deal breaker.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Oskar Blues Brewery, Porter - English, USA

Oskar Blues Death By Coconut

Thursday, 23 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: English Porter
Other Notes: 25 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Intense pure liquid cacao flavors swirl with popping coconut aromas, all supported by a semi-sweet porter made from loads of our dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malt. This limited release specialty comes around once a year to satisfy that sweet tooth, so get ’em while you can before they disappear. At 6.5% ABV and 25 IBUs, this choconut goodness will have you yellin’ “Pass. Dash. Hit.” all winter long.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 6th October 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a dark brown hue on the edges, a two finger tanned head that had decent retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong coconut and vanilla with chocolate, caramel and biscuit.
Taste: Sweet-ish milk chocolate, coconut and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I preferred the taste over the aroma as I felt that the coconut was a bit overpowering in the aroma. This was not the case with the taste which was on the sweet side but still nicely flavoured. An easy drinking Porter.

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.

words of another dreamy traveller