4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Denmark, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Koppi Coffee IPA Citra x Santa Barbara

Wednesday, 23 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.2%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij. Citra hops and Santa Barbara coffee beans.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale brewed with coffee (1.5%).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with best before date of 14th October 2017 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper colour with a big three finger off white head that had good retention and lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Extremely tropical with a lot of fruit like mango, peach, apricot, pineapple with hints of grapefruit and pine. Coffee is there, but its far and away in the background.
Taste: The coffee comes out in the taste and the result is like that of light fruity and floral hand drip coffee with light caramel and a nice grapefruit and pine bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Very interesting. My first coffee IPA and it was tasty. Will be on the look out for the other variations.

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

Prairie Standard

Monday, 21 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 5.6%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Prairie Standard is our everyday beer. It’s a light, crisp saison with a hoppy finish. This beer is dry hopped 1lb per bbl with Motueka hops. A lovely New Zealand hop with a spicy lime like flavor and aroma.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 15415, meaning it was bottled on 3rd June 2015. It was poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a two finger puffy white head with good retention and decent stringy lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical mango followed by some tangy citrus lemon, fresh orange juice, coriander, honeydew, cantaloupe.
Taste: Lemon, lime, orange, light barnyard, white pepper spice and slight grass hop finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: There was less barnyard funk than I expected, but the light sourness, crispness and strong fruitiness made it very easy and nice to drink.

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

Prairie Prairie Gold

Sunday, 20 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 15 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Prairie Gold is a dry, highly effervescent saison fermented with a mix of ale yeast, wine yeast, lactobacillus and 2 strains of brettanomyces. This beer highlights the various yeasts and bacteria used to make it. Lemon, pear, white wine grapes and a touch of funk dominate the flavor and aroma in this champagne like beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 13815, meaning it was bottled on 18th May 2015. There was lots of warning that this was likely to be a gusher, so I was very careful opening this. Luckily this opened as a slow gusher, so there was time to pour before it overflowed. Even after pouring one-third of the bottle, you could see it still clearly going up the bottle! It was poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy straw golden yellow colour with a two finger white head that dissipated slowly to a thinish foam cap and leaves nice streaky lacing.
Aroma: Nice tart, funky barnyard, hay, lemon and pear aromas.
Taste: Tart, sour, lemon, funk followed by some light peppery spice and light bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a medium but prickly carbonation.
Overall: A nice sour, tart and funky beer.

5 - Excellent (must buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Magic #4:21 Raspberry Smoothie IPA

Friday, 18 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) Part of Magic Numbers, a dreamy small-batch series: 4:21 is an IPA brewed with a dose of raspberries, vanilla beans and lactose sugar.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 6th July 2016, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark pinkish (like pink guava juice) colour with a one finger light pink head that had poor retention and little lacing.
Aroma: Very nice raspberry and guava aromas along with a hint of peach and orange.
Taste: Tart sour raspberries and guava, with some light grapefruit bitterness, orange sweetness and pine.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Wow, I really liked this. There’s a good balance between sour, bitter and sweet here. The tart sour raspberries was really nice and the guava was a nice surprise. I definitely have to get myself more of this.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, Brouwerij Huyghe

Delirium Nocturnum

Thursday, 17 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij Huyghe
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: Triple fermentation

Brewer Description: (from website) Initially, a very good mouthfeel of alcohol and softness. This is followed by an increasing bitterness, partially from the hop, but also from the roasted malt and chocolate malt. Towards the end a nice balance between bitterness, sour and sweet.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before end date of April 2016 poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark brown colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice thin fluffy layer leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong dark fruits of raisin, plum, prunes, grape, dates and a hint of caramel.
Taste: Much like the aroma, there is strong sweet plum, raisin and prunes at the start. Sweet candied sugar and caramel midway. Before a light bitter finish with the alcohol coming through.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and high carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and fruity but could be even better if the alcohol was hidden more.

words of another dreamy traveller