Terrapin Beer Company – Indiana Krunkles *

 Beer Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 052011
 

As it often happens, this is another beer that I first tried a sample of on draft.  It was quite a while ago now that I tried it and I seem to remember not really loving it at the time.  None of that was enough to stop me from giving it an official try at home and I am glad that I did.

At first I had the overall at 7 out of 10, then changed it to 6.5, but I suppose it does not really matter since the final letter grade is the same either way.

Leading into what will be a very enjoyable weekend . . .

Brewery: Terrapin Beer Company (Athens, GA)

Name: Indiana Krunkles (Side Project Volume 15)

Style: Specialty Beer (or a German Style Wheat IPA as it’s described on the bottle)

ABV: 7.30% (on bottle)

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge before serving in a pint glass.  22oz. bottle grabbed at Whole Foods some time back.

Aroma: Great citrusy, somewhat spicy hop aroma with a slight sweetness and a yeasty character.  A bit of a floral note in there as well.  Quite nice overall. – 9/12

Appearance: Light golden orange in color.  One finger off-white head that is thick and frothy with good retention and leaving some trail.  Clear with lots of rising bubbles visible. – 2.5/3

Flavor: Citrus pith-like hop quality with that kind of bitterness and some underlying sweetness that is somewhat mead-like.  A fruity banana-esque character trying to come through.  The combination of flavors seem to come together nicely.  Finishes a little dry with some nicely lingering hop flavors. – 13.5/20

Mouthfeel: Medium body (or so) with a moderate level of carbonation.  It has a creaminess to it and also maybe a bit of warmth there. – 4/5

Overall Impressions: Perhaps the spiciness in the aroma is coming from the yeast.  Overall a strange or at least unfamiliar combination of flavors (not a bad thing).  Some warmth seems to be there despite a modest ABV.  The first few sips were pretty dominantly bitter but it became much more balanced after a few more.  An interesting combination of styles that has characteristics of each (Hefeweizen and IPA).  – 6.5/10

Overall: B (35.5/50)

6012284312 8e273cfc19 Terrapin Beer Company Indiana Krunkles *

Terrapin Beer Company - Indiana Krunkles

 Posted by Lucas at 2:00 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Southern Tier Brewing Co. – 422 PWA *

 Beer Reviews  4 Responses »
Feb 012011
 

Quite the long lead in for today’s review.

To begin, this is the first review of February and is also the first of what will be an entire month of beer reviews from Southern Tier Brewing Company.  Once I noticed that I had accumulated quite a few in my stash I went ahead and grabbed a few more to ensure that I would have enough for the entire month.  So you have that to look forward to.

Today is also the first day that I will roll out my new reviewing methods.  Instead of simply throwing my grade at the bottom I am going to start evaluating in a manner that is closer to what the BJCP scoring consists of.  Surely my personal biases will play into them, but the hope is that I will be judging the beers more against their style than simply my palate likes and dislikes.  I think it will take some time for me to get used to it, but I am glad to finally make the change.  You will see the scoring for each category after each entry and then the overall at the bottom.  If you have never seen the scoresheet that I write on you can check it out here.

Finally, the asterisk after the title is for organization purposes.  I (via much assistance from The Wife) am continuing to make changes to this site and adding that mark will indicate what reviews are using this new evaluation system when simply looking at the beer review page.

Hopefully that prepares us all to go forward with the reviews for this month and beyond.

To start the themed month . . .

Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Co. (Lakewood, NY)

Name: 422 Pale Wheat Ale

Style: American Wheat Beer

ABV: 5.80%

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a pint glass.

Aroma: Lightly sweet grainy wheat aroma with some faint floral and yeasty notes underneath.  Slight hop character. – 10/12

Appearance: Pale yellowish in color.  Slight white head that dissipated very quickly without leaving a trail.  Pretty much clear with a very slight haze and rising bubbles visible. – 2/3

Flavor: Light grainy wheat flavor up front with some slight sweetness, spiciness(?), and faint bitterness from middle through to the finish.  A bit dry and crisp at the finish with some lingering flavor. – 15/20

Mouthfeel: Medium to light body with a high level of carbonation that provides some nice crispness on the palate. – 4/5

Overall Impressions: Clean and crisp beer that is pretty refreshing when thirsty.  No great depth of flavor, though pretty consistent with the style expectations.  Good warm weather beer that is best when served really cold. – 6/10

Overall: Very Good – 37/50

5408415789 100d0dc09e Southern Tier Brewing Co. 422 PWA *

Southern Tier Brewing Co. - 422 PWA

5409025162 f62d3c0dd0 Southern Tier Brewing Co. 422 PWA *

A bit closer now

 Posted by Lucas at 8:00 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Shipyard Brewing Co. – Summer Ale Take 2

 Beer Reviews  No Responses »
Dec 032010
 

Since we went from sunny and eighty something degrees to frost in a span of two days I am going with a summer seasonal review to maybe influence a compromise somewhere around seventy degrees. Also because I am pushing through all the old reviews.

Actually this one is a beer that I already posted earlier this year. The reason that I decided to go ahead with sharing this evaluation is because I had no recollection of reviewing this beer previously and I find it interesting to see the differences in my tasting notes. There are beers where I have wanted to go back and do another review to see how my palate has evolved, but this one was revisited by accident. That was a good scenario since my original notes were no influence on these.

Now for this week’s Friday review . . .

Brewery: Shipyard Brewing Company (Portland, ME)

Name: Summer Ale

Style: American Wheat Beer

ABV: 4.80%

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a pint glass. Gift from Cousin Adam.

Aroma: Lightly sweet with some grainy maltiness underneath. Pretty clean overall aroma.

Appearance: Golden yellow color. One finger, off-white color head that dissipated pretty quickly and left a little bit of a trail. Crystal clear with rising bubbles visible.

Flavor: Some buttery, grainy maltiness with a light hop bitterness that is somewhat dry toward the finish with an odd tingling sensation on the palate. Very light overall flavor profile.

Mouthfeel: Light body with a decent level of carbonation that helps add some bite and crispness. Finish leave a bit of an unpleasant flavor.

Overall Impressions: Goes down easy (easier when cold and less so from there), but not all that enjoyable. The buttery quality and bitterness seem to build on the palate as the glass empties. I would not necessarily turn down a free one, but it will not be on my shopping list for future summers.

Grade: C- or so

5229334054 f537fc8992 Shipyard Brewing Co. Summer Ale Take 2

Shipyard Brewing Company - Summer Ale

 Posted by Lucas at 7:00 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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