Tag Archives: usa

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

AleSmith IPA

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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!

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, English Bitter, Goose Island Beer Co., USA

Goose Island Honkers Ale

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Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 4.3%
Style: English Bitter
Other Notes: 30 IBUs. An English-style Bitter inspired by trips overseas. Combines a fruity hop aroma with a rich malt middle

Brewer Description: (from bottle neck tag) Golden sunset color, fruity hop aroma, biscuit malt flavor, soft body.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle, bottled on 18th November 2016 and best before 18th November 2017. Poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: A nice clear copper colour with a one finger off white head that slowly dissipates to a nice thin creamy layer while leaving curtain like lacing.
Aroma: A bit light, but what I do get was grassy, nutty, sweet malt and hints of toffee.
Taste: Toasty biscuit malt, caramel, nuttiness with hints of orange citrus.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Not my favourite style, but this is easy to drink.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, English IPA, Goose Island Beer Co., USA

Goose Island Goose IPA

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Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 5.9%
Style: English IPA
Other Notes: 55 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle neck tag) Fruity aroma, set off by a dry malt middle and long hop finish.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle, bottled on 18th November 2016 and best before 18th November 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear golden copper colour with a close to three finger white head that had good retention and left great lacing.
Aroma: Piney with citrus lemon and lime followed by a light sweet malt background.
Taste: I’m not getting much in the taste. Some sweet and grassy malt and something along the lines of a bitter lemon tea.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It looks great and its aromas were quite nice. Taste was a little too light and one dimensional with just a combination of sweet and long lasting bitterness.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Silly Cybies

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Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 9%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Belgian Style Dark Ale aged in oak barrels with raspberries.

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

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in November 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear and extremely dark red colour with a two fingered tan-ish red head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Intense freshly crushed raspberries and raspberry jam.
Taste: Sour and tart with a combination of mixed berries; raspberry, blackberry and blueberry. It is also very jammy but the sweet only lightly shows through the tartness.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This is amazing. I don’t get any of the 9% ABV which is great, but I’m also not getting much of the oak barrels that it was supposedly aged in, which while disappointing, actually meant that it was very raspberry jammy and tasty. Crooked Stave have done it again with Silly Cybies, which is a must buy for me.

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2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Tripel, Boston Beer Company, USA

Samuel Adams (Barrel Room Collection) New World Tripel

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Brewery: Boston Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: Belgian Tripel
Other Notes: A Golden Tripel with notes of spice and tropical fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Tripel was born from the Old World Belgian technique of barrel aging and the New World of craft brewing innovation. With its pale golden color and uniquely refreshing taste, this big flavorful, and complex brew has a subtle herbal hop character combined with the tropical fruit and spice notes of its special Belgian yeast. One of our brewers’ favorite places to experiment is in the barrel room at our Boston Brewery. It’s here that each of our Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection brews was born.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.43
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 1pt 9.4 fl oz corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 1st February 2018. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A clear dark copper orange colour with a slightly less than two finger off white head that had great retention, eventually settling down to a nice creamy layer, while leaving great curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Belgian yeast, banana, clove, honey and pear with hints of spice.
Taste: Some light banana and clove at the beginning, followed by spice, candi sugar, orange and pineapple with quite a strong hit of alcohol on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: It looks great, and smells nice, but the strong alcohol on the finish was quite harsh in my opinion.

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