Cluster's Last Stand
Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, New Hampshire, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Stone BrewingIPA Regular
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Score
7.19
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Old, new? It’s all the same, really. Cluster’s Last Stand defies the commonly accepted notion that strong, hoppy beers are recent arrivals on the US beer landscape. Smuttynose has teamed up with Stone Brewing Company to recreate the original, post-Prohibition Ballantine IPA recipe. That’s right; strong, 60 IBU beer was brewed in the 30’s. How do we know? We read it in Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele’s excellent and well-researched book, “IPA, Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale.” The only difference between this beer and more contemporary IPAs are the hop varieties: Cluster, Brewers Gold, Bullion and East Kent Goldings. None of these are trendy and we were a little surprised to find out that all four were readily available. The result is a rich, copper-colored ale with a strong, refined hop profile of spiciness with a hint of grapefruit.
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottled. Can. A yellow beer with a white head. The aroma has notes of straw and malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of straw, hops, and malt, leading to a bitter finish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Aus der Flasche 2015-02 getrunken. Ein frische, schön fruchtige Aromen von Grapefruit und Südfrüchte. Am Gaumen hatte ich mit einen Brett von Bitterkeit erwartet und wurde positiv überrascht. Denn dieses IPA ist nicht nur schön fruchtig und der Alkohol ist gut eingebunden, sondern auch die typische Bitterkeit ist für ein IPA echt verhalten. Klasse!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
(Bottle) Hazy amber colour with frothy, off-white head. Malty, fruity nose with notes of citrus, apricots, orange peel, crisp-bread, caramel, a touch of resin and some honey. Malty, fruity taste with citrus, orange peel, apricot marmalade, pink grapefruit, crisp-bread, caramel, resin and a generous citric bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a certain sweetness. Tasty and well made, with generous amounts of fresh hops, well balanced by a chewy malt profile. Quite hoppy, but never aggressive. Very nice.
Backlog
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
650 ml bottle at the Hoppy Pub, Thessaloniki. courtesy of Constantin. Hazy golden orange color with off white head. Malty and hoppy aroma, caramel, fruity, citrusy fruity, some alcohol. Sweet and bitter taste like aroma. Medium oily body with soft carbonation. It was an old bottle.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Seems to be a lot of rates if they only brewed 780 Imperial Gallons of this stuff. Anyway a bottle found it’s way to Shropshire and four of us shared it on 24th June 2015 at a Shrewsbury Bottle Exchange meeting. Poured clear golden colour with a staying white crown. The nose was somehow perfumed with a citrusy orange twist and slightly piny. Semi-sweet in the mouth with again an orange, citrusy and piny feel: not as bitter as I expected. Decent though.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Honey, tea nose mild orange peel. Cloudy orange, thin head, good lace. Orange more pronounced on the palate, tea still present. Medium body easy carbonation. Tangy orange finish. Very nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle split at LKS Towers, thanks to Leighton Calrisian, 05/05/15. Golden orange with a decent off white covering. Nose is biscuit, caramel, light hop, tea leaves, straw, bitter orange. Taste comprises caramel malt, earthy hops, sweet licks, mellow tropical fruit, melon, light bread dough. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Ok - can get the old school English stylee IPA vibe.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle shared at Leightons place. Thanks to Leighton. Light hazed orange, golden coloured pour with a halo of white head. Aroma is spicy pine / grassy citrus, light caramel malts. Flavour is composed of light biscuit malts, citrus, light pine, orange citrus. Palate is semi sweet, moderate carbonation. Firm fruity hop bitterness. Solid beer. Little metallic.