Category Archives: Style

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.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Euro Sour Ale, To Øl

To Øl Nelson Survin

Monday, 13 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

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.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Anchor Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, California Common / Steam Beer, USA

Anchor Brotherhood Steam

Monday, 13 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.6%
Style: California Common / Steam Beer
Other Notes: Dry-hopped beer

Brewer Description: (from website) In the spring of 2014, our friends of Chris Robinson Brotherhood released their album “Phosphorescent Harvest” and kicked off their U.S. tour in the SF Bay Area. To celebrate, we tapped the first keg of our Brotherhood Steam Beer, a Golden State Collaboration of handcrafted California tunes and handcrafted California brews.

Inspired by the brewing tradition of our flagship, Anchor Steam® Beer, Brotherhood Steam Beer is brewed with its own unique recipe. A distinct malt bill gives the beer its copper color, and dry-hopping with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops adds aromatic hints of citrus and mint. The result is a smooth, full-bodied malt flavor with a lingering, fresh hop finish.

A long-standing English brewery tradition is to designate their beers, “Ordinary”, “Best or Special”, and “Extra Special Bitter” (ESB) to note beers of increasing strength.

In the spirit of that tradition, we like to think of Brotherhood Steam Beer as an Extra Special Lager (ESL), aka “The Gig Beer” – an easy drinking brew from the first set to encore.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with no visible canned on or best by date. Poured into a stemmed Mikkeller tasting glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a just less than two finger off white head that had decent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrus orange, citrus zest, grass, herbal, caramel and toasty biscuit.
Taste: Grapefruit, orange, lemon, citrus zest, caramel, biscuit malt sweetness, herbal and floral.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nicely balanced and easy to drink.

words of another dreamy traveller