Tag Archives: usa

4 - Good (buy), Alpine Beer Company, American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, USA

Alpine Pure Hoppiness

Tuesday, 29 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Alpine Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: American Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This mega-hopped, West Coast-Style India Pale Ale will take you to hop heaven! We’ve used hops in the boil, more hops in the giant hopback, and added to that, an incredible amount of dry-hopping for that cutting edge “hop bite.” Onve you’ve tasted this unique beer, all others pale in comparison. Drink better beer so… drink Alpine Ale or go to bed!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 10th May 2016, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy orange colour with puffy three finger off white head that had good retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy mandarin orange, slightly candied, piney hops and some light tropical fruit. The finish is a very nice strong floral.
Taste: Starts lightly sweet with mango and orange. The finish is a strong lasting grapefruit pith bitterness with some light caramel.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A very nice bitter DIPA. Great balance between the malts and hops.

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

Prairie Okie

Thursday, 24 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: 50 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Okie is an imperial brown ale aged in whiskey barrels. Notes of toffee and brown sugar are infused with sweet notes of bourbon, vanilla, oak and molasses.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 15215, meaning it was bottled on 1st June 2015. It was poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark reddish brown colour with a less than one finger tanned head that dissipated quickly and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Rich bourbon, oak, caramel, toffee, vanilla and roasted malt.
Taste: Much like the aroma, sweet toffee, caramel and vanilla with a hit of bourbon and oak. There was also a hint of dark fruits, plum, raisin and fig on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Mid to full bodied but leaning more towards full with low carbonation.
Overall: A very nice brown ale as the bourbon, oak and sweet notes of toffee and caramel went well together. The 12% is not felt at all and goes down easy. Brown ale is not a style that has a great name, but this brew definitely redeems it.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Bell’s Brewery Inc., USA

Bell’s Hopslam Ale

Wednesday, 23 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Bell’s Brewery Inc.
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Ale brewed with honey.

Brewer Description: (from website) Starting with six different hop varietals added to the brew kettle & culminating with a massive dry-hop addition of Simcoe hops, Bell’s Hopslam Ale possesses the most complex hopping schedule in the Bell’s repertoire. Selected specifically because of their aromatic qualities, these Pacific Northwest varieties contribute a pungent blend of grapefruit, stone fruit, and floral notes. A generous malt bill and a solid dollop of honey provide just enough body to keep the balance in check, resulting in a remarkably drinkable rendition of the Double India Pale Ale style.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.98
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 15th January 2016 (at least as best as I can tell since the dating machine misprinted onto the lip of the bottom of the can). Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy copper orange colour with an one finger off white head that sticks around for a bit and leaves nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Crisp candied orange and caramel with some light tropical pineapple, apricot and pine.
Taste: Its quite a sweet DIPA but that should have been expected with ale brewed with honey. I get a quick hit of bitterness to start before it turns sweet with caramel, honey, pineapple and orange. The finish is bitter again with grapefruit mixed in with some honey.
Mouthfeel: Mid to full bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This was nice, but maybe my expectations were too high and it was perhaps just a bit too sweet for me. Having said that, the 10% is completely hidden and it goes down easy.

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.

words of another dreamy traveller