Archive for the category “Strong Pale Ale”

07 Jan 2013

As Follows – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

stillwater_bttl9% ABV

Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($13.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “eschatological ale” (no one told Baltimore-based Stillwater Artisanal Ales that the Mayans were full of it?) pours a bright but opaque pale gold with an extremely dense, shocking-white head.  As Follows offers a nose of barnyard funk, bread, peach, and a little bit of butterscotch, fairly Belgian-y in all with some subtle spice notes.  The taste is decidedly un-sweet and very rustic, with a taste and light mouthfeel reminiscent of seltzer water, along with an aftertaste of funk, rye, garden herbs, and some touches of spice and wood.  It’s a very subtle and drinkable beer that doesn’t quite live up to the price tag, although it could be a hit amongst beer geeks with sensitive palettes.

toasts-3.5    3.5 Toasts

Stillwater_AsFollows

toasts-3.5    3.5 Toasts

 
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22 Nov 2012

Biere de L’Amitie – Brasserie St. Feuillien/Green Flash Collaboration

9.5% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($13.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This Belgian Strong Pale Ale is a collaboration of San Diego’s Green Flash and Belgium’s Brasserie St. Feuillien, the opposite number of their more recent partnership Friendship Brew, a black saison.  It pours a pale orange with an expansive bone-white head, and a gorgeous array of farmhouse aromas in the nose – citrus, hay, and funk are there, along with some banana-coconut tropical notes.   Biere de L’Amitie is unbelievably light and effervescent on the first swallow, with some champagne and funk flavors entering on the finish.  There is some citrus present, but nothing juicy or cloying, just a perfect accent to the crisp mouthfeel and floral, tea-like spices.  In the spirit of cross-cultural collaboration, the resulting tasty brew is both old-world understated and brimming with new-world personality.

    4.5 Toasts

    4.5 Toasts

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21 May 2012

Horny Devil – AleSmith Brewing

11% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($12.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

San Diego-based AleSmith’s Horny Devil pours a clean, pale gold with a sizable white head.  It has the nuanced, tropical nose of a real Belgian tripel, with some cracked wheat and hot pepper on the periphery.  Fiery pepper sizzles the palette, but it mixes surprisingly well with the flavor profile of a Belgian ale, as the hot spice is cooled by the coconut notes and dry texture.  Candi sugar and Belgian yeast are also present, as well as a double-digit alcohol burn in the long, warming finish – it’s an excellent mix of the savory, the spicy, and the sweet.  Despite the ambitiously extreme flavors (including the addition of coriander seeds), it’s all very balanced and never overwhelms the palette.

  4.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4.5 Toasts


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