Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA

Prairie Eliza5beth

Tuesday, 4 October 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Midwest farmhouse ale. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma

Brewer Description: (from website) Eliza5beth is a golden farmhouse ale that we aged on apricots to allow sourness and light fruit flavors to add complexity to the beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 08515, meaning it was bottled on 26th March 2015. Perhaps opened a few months later than I would have preferred. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a big foamy three finger white head that dissipates fairly quickly to an extremely thin cap while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, wet hay, lemon juice and apricot.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, straw, lemon, orange and apricot with some peppery spiciness towards the end.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium bodied with high prickly carbonation.
Overall: Although I didn’t intend to hold on to this for so long, 18 months in the bottle and it still holds up pretty nicely. Good tart and fruity flavors along with great carbonation.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Enjoy After 07.04.16 Brett IPA

Monday, 3 October 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 4th Edition. Recommend aging until 07.04.16

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Really? Cellar an IPA? Yes. What you hold in your hands is an experiement. This IPA is spiked at bottling with Brettanomyces, a wild yeast that, over time, brings about charmingly unpredictable complexities of spice, funk, acidity and more. The operative words in our beer-cellaring thesis are “over time.” For those of you who are impatient or like to experiment, the earliest we recommend sampling this beer is 07.04.15. The beer won’t be fully carbonated until that date. Ideally, you’ll want to cellar the beer up to – or beyond – the Enjoy After date to help it reach its full evolutionary potential. At that point, some facets of the Brett characteristics will have mellowed, while others will have become more profound, it all matures into a fascinating and delicious culmination. Individual results will vary… and that’s both the beauty and the intent behind this beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 1 pint 9.36 fl oz (750ml) corked and caged bottle with an enjoy after 4th July 2016 date, and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass. As soon as I uncaged it, the cork pretty much wanted to pop itself out.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange colour with a huge four finger fluffy white head that just kept going and going but somehow eventually settles to a pillow-y cap and left lots of lacing.
Aroma: Moderate brett, leathery, barnyard funk with tropical fruitiness and pine in the background.
Taste: Earthy funkiness followed by fruity lemon and pineapple, pepper spice, pine and bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation which was surprising since it looked like it was going to be highly carbonated.
Overall: Other than the bitterness on the finish, and maybe the pine, there really wasn’t much IPA feel left. Maybe a Saison, but at the same time not a spectacular one. It’s ok, I’ll still drink more, but I’m on the fence as to whether I’d get another bottle. I’m glad I tried it though.

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

Prairie Puncheon

Friday, 30 September 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Farmhouse ale fermented in oak barrels. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma

Brewer Description: (from website) Puncheon is a farmhouse rye ale fermented in large oak barrels with several different wild bacteria strains. Tropical citrus notes and sourness can be detected with hints of oak.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with oddly no bottled on date visible. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden colour with a big three finger white head that dissipated quickly but settled to a thin cap and leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong earthy musty farmhouse funk and damp wood, citrus lemon and orange as well as tropical apricot.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, light funk, lemon, honey, apple peel, pepper spice and a touch of alcohol creeping through.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was quite good but there was a distinct lack of oak barrel notes that I had expected. On top of that, it was a little disappointing that a bit of the alcohol creeped out into the taste.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA, Wild Ale

Prairie Funky Gold Simcoe

Thursday, 29 September 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dry hopped sour ale.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 02516, meaning it was bottled on 25th January 2016. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy straw golden yellow colour with a close to two finger white head that dissipates slowly and eventually settles to an extremely thin cap and leaves sparse lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruit aromas with passion fruit, unripe mango and apricot followed by a touch of citrusy tangy lemon and mandarin plus funky goodness.
Taste: Lightly sour followed by lots of tropical and citrus fruitiness. Apricot, mango, peach, passion fruit, tangy mandarin, lemon and a restrained but nice barnyard funkiness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light to medium bodied with high prickly carbonation.
Overall: A very well made dry hopped sour ale. Lots of tropical and citrus fruitiness in both the aroma and taste with a restrained sourness and funkiness. Would love to drink this again.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Brown Ale - Imperial, Founders Brewing Company, USA

Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 9%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial brown ale brewed with Sumatra coffee.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 355ml bottle with a best by date of 31st January 2017 and poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark brown colour with a nice two finger tanned head that had decent retention and left great lacing.
Aroma: Coffee, roasted malts, chocolate, caramel and lightly bready.
Taste: Similar to the aroma with roasty coffee, chocolate and caramel with a hint of vanilla and nuttiness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s a nice Brown Ale that doesn’t feel like a 9% abv beer and drinks easily. It’s one of the better Brown Ales around but not quite as good as Prairie Okie though (in my opinion), but that one is barrel-aged.

words of another dreamy traveller