Tag Archives: usa

Epic Utah Sage Saison

Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.6%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Malts – Pilsner Malt, Maris Otter, 2-Row Brewers Malt, Rye Malt, Wheat Malt and Barley Flakes. Hops – Centennial, Citra and Calypso. Others – Fresh Sage, Thyme and Rosemary

Brewer Description: (from website) Three out of the four ingredients in Simon and Garfunkel’s third album make this Belgian-style farmhouse ale a perfect golden beverage with festive herbal notes.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.57
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bottle, Release #26, brewed on 11th March 2015 and packaged on 6th April 2015. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a bright but hazy golden orange colour with a just under two finger white head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet orange citrus with touches of tropical apricot, lemon, orange marmalade and a herbal character (although I’m not sure if its sage, maybe thyme).
Taste: Orange honey sweetness, sage, pepper spice, almond biscuit and a bouquet of herbs.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: It’s quite different to any other beer let alone Saison that I’ve tried. It’s perhaps a touch to sweet for me, but the biscuity, almondy, herbally finish is interesting.

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Boulevard Dark Truth Stout (Smokestack Series)

Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 9.7%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 60 IBUs. Malts – Pale Malt, Amber 50, Cara 120, Cara 300, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Chocolate Rye, Malted Rye, Malted Wheat, Honey Naked Oats and Flaked Oats. Hops – Magnum, Zeus, Citra and Perle. Other – Brown Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Roasted English malts provide a deep, rich texture, Belgian yeast bestows plum-like fruitiness, and German hops add spicy aromas as Dark Truth Stout mellows to a smooth, dry, smoky finish.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 24th February 2017, and poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a pitch black colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated quickly but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty coffee, chocolate, crème brûlée, caramel, some dark fruits like plum and fig and a touch of smokiness.
Taste: Similar to the aroma except the dark fruits and char smokiness are more prominent whereas the roasty coffee and chocolate notes are more in the background. There is also some bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: This was an interesting Imperial Stout. Body was a lighter than I prefer and carbonation perhaps a tad too high. But still definitely worth a try.

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Pipeworks Lizard King

Brewery: Pipeworks Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: American Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from can) Mosaic hopped Pale Ale.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 1 pint can canned on 16th June 2016 and poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden colour with a just under two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left wonderful lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical notes especially pineapple, mango and peach with a touch of citrus grapefruit, orange rind and lemon juice.
Taste: A fruit explosion of tropical and citrus. Mainly pineapple and mango at the beginning, before settling to a lightly bitter orange and lemon peel finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A great and refreshing pale ale. The aroma from the Mosaic was especially nice, and feels like it could be an anytime beer for me. Having said that, I think I still slightly prefer the Citra of pseudoSue and Zombie Dust.

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Pipeworks Emerald Grouper

Brewery: Pipeworks Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 9.5%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Imperial India Pale Ale brewed with honey

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dudddde… we put in like what was it… honey. No, like insane amounts of honey. Annnd… pssshh… seriously dank hops I got from this on guy I know. I think it was like… dude…. I am so gone. Simcoe and some Citra and some Mosaic and what if the colors I see are like not the colors you see… what was I saying? Right, right… L 7. If you put your hands together like that, it makes a square. Like a grouper. Wait what? Whatever… Pipeworks, they brew like the stickiest of the ickiest.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 22 oz bomber with no visible bottled on date on the bottle. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a big three finger white head that had great retention and leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical mango and pineapple, citrus grapefruit pith, lemon peel and honey.
Taste: Bitter grapefruit and orange pith, zest, pine and honey sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I was worried that with honey added, it would be too sweet, but actually, this was really balanced between bitter and sweet. The ABV is also well hidden. A great DIPA.

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Prairie Ape Snake

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dry hopped dark farmhouse ale.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 00416, meaning it was bottled on 4th January 2016. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark dark brown, close to black colour with a big three finger tanned head with good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, wet hay with citrusy rind and a hint of tropical fruit and flowers.
Taste: Earthy, roasty coffee and chocolate, wet hay, rosemary, caramel, light funkiness and citrus rind.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation, dry finish.
Overall: I don’t have much access to many varieties of dark Saisons to compare with, but this was interesting. A little muddled in my opinion with the wide range in taste, yet in the end, it does still kind of manage to mix well enough.

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