Tag Archives: usa

4 - Good (buy), AleSmith Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

AleSmith Speedway Stout – Hawaiian

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Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with Coconut, Vanilla, and Ka’u Coffee

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We often use Speedway Stout as a jet-black canvas for homages to things we hold dear, whether it’s artisan coffee, a favourite edible or sumptuous flavor combination. The most recent variation of our celebrated imperial stout honors the culinary character of the Hawaiian Islands by combining the lush sweetness of coconut with vanilla and Ka’u coffee. Named after the region of Hawaii from which it hails, Ka’u is produced from some of the world’s rarest coffee beans. Slow-grown beneficiaries of nutrient-rich volcanic soil and idyllic climate, Ka’u offers nuances of caramel and hazelnut plus a soft floral character, all of which marry seamlessly with natural sweetness from the vanilla and coconut as well as Speedway Stout’s inherently rich, chocolaty character. Say aloha to something truly exceptional and evocative of its namesake isles.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml foiled bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left lots of nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, milk chocolate, vanilla, coconut, coffee.
Taste: Roasted malts, lightly sweet, lightly bitter, coffee, vanilla, chocolate, molasses, with notes of coconut.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable and an excellent sipper. I guess without pineapple, it doesn’t really feel ‘Hawaiian’ to me, especially since the coconut is not as strong as the vanilla. But still, nice aroma and flavours while being super smooth, and just a great variant.

4 - Good (buy), AleSmith Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

AleSmith Speedway Stout – Thai

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Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Imperial Stout brewed with Coconut, Ginger, Lime, Lemongrass, Basil & Coffee

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Inspired by our brewers’ love of the assertive, bright flavors of Thai ingredients, this intensely flavored brew incorporates the vibrant quality of several Thai-inspired ingredients into our classic Imperial Stout. Powerful notes of citrus, botanicals, and tropical fruit balance the stout’s rich chocolate, caramel, and coffee character. The result is an amazingly flavorful and complex beer that pays tribute to the flavors of Thailand. This beer will age nicely, though the intensity of certain ingredients may evolve over time. Chon Gâew!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml foiled bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left lots of nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, Thai green curry, lemongrass, basil, ginger, lime.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, coconut, basil, lemongrass, lime, coriander, and notes of ginger.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: I didn’t think it would work, but wow this was interesting. The aroma was amazing. Somehow, roasty chocolate and coffee just mixes well with Thai green curry. Although not as amazing, this same combo also worked with the flavour, with the coconut notes coming through stronger. I have this nagging feeling that if they just added chili as well, the spice would have kicked it to another level. The body was a little thinner than I liked, but other than that, I was pleasantly surprised.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, USA

Equilibrium dHop 2

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) dHop2 is a DIPA that investigates the interplay between our ale strain and an intensive Mosaic and Citra forward hop bill woven four times into its creative process. It pours a very murky tangerine color, releasing notes of orange juice (with pulp) and earthy grass. The taste is highly resinous, dank-citrus, pine juice, with a chewy mouth feel and a firm and pointed bitterness.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 7th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange juice, citrus rind, melon, mango, with notes of grass.
Taste: Juicy, sweet and bitter. Sweet, tropical, mango and pineapple to start, followed by citrus, mandarin, citrus rind, and resinous, dank, piney notes, with a lasting bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: An excellent NEDIPA that’s just delicious and goes down so easy. It has a good sweet and bitter balance with the type of juicy combo that I enjoy.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy, USA

Equilibrium Fractal Eclipse

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) A fractal is something simple at the core yet can produce wonderful and amazingly complex results. Fractal Eclipse only has pale malt and a brand-new Australian hop called Eclipse (Previously called HPA-016). Investigating how different hops manifest through our processes allows us to optimize both our use of hops and our hopping techniques. Fractal Eclipse pours a resinous-hazy-yellow releasing dramatic aromas of Five Alive fruit drink, Sat AM cartoons, mimosas, pineapple, and spring grass. Its flavors are citrus cocktails and Australian grass blades all with a melon twist. Delicate, juicy, and balanced this is the perfect beverage to watch the sun fade into party light.

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

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 14th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy orange colour with an almost two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Melon, strawberry, pineapple, grapefruit peel, orange rind, leafy, grass.
Taste: Citrus zest, unripe mangoes, melon, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, grass, lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: There was a lot of fruit flavours here, but it just didn’t seem to come together as well as it sounded. Not sure if it was the hop, since it was my first time trying Eclipse, but Equilibrium have a lot more beers that I prefer.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery x Homes Brewing, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, USA

Equilibrium x Homes Lab Flasks

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery x Homes Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Following up from our last collab Lab Tubes, we are back at it with our friends from Homes to create a brand new beer using our Incognito process.

Lab Flasks uses flaked wheat, white wheat, flaked oats, and oat malt to lay the base for a large Citra Incognito, Citra, and Strata whirlpool before we dry-hopped this beer with Citra LUPOMAX, Citra, Strata, and Michigan Copper.

Pouring bright milky yellow, hop saturated aromas of orange creamsicles and pineapple dominant before flavors of assorted citrus, Hawaiian Punch, honeydew melon, cannabis, lime nerds candy, dank earthiness, and a pop of rainbow melon.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 5th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A nice bright hazy orange colour, with a just over one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, dank, pineapple, mango, orange juice, orange zest.
Taste: Light to moderate sweetness, tropical and citrus juicy, mango, pineapple, melon, orange rind, candied citrus, with light dank and bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Balanced sweet and bitter flavours with lots of juicy and dank notes. Easy to drink and very enjoyable.