Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Much better than their first attempt at a saison, and pretty much all their other Belgian attempts as well, which have mostly been American ales brewed with Belgian yeast - this is much more authentic - hazy orange - earthy nose of tangy city’s peel, mild phenols, a light bit of funk, herbal bitterness - flavor is tangy and semidry - herbs, lemon rind, a bit of flintiness, a bit of funk and leathery/plastic phenols - gingerbread - hops arrive late and compliment the crackery malt - quite nice, actually.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Pours black with a sudsy tan head - a fairly creamy and robust porter, with a nice balance of sweetness, roast and bitterness - starts with a bit of dry cocoa and black malt bitterness - coffee-ish roast through the middle, as a creamy sweetness gradually develops and lasts through the finish - a bit of a hop kick at the end - creamy, medium bodied, and pretty tasty.
notalush (7339) reviewed Wit from Strange Craft Beer Company 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Seems more along the lines of an American Wheat - very few of the phenols you expect from a belgian yeast - more of a clean, grainy/wheaty character, a wee bit of tang and some orange and lemon flavors - a bit bitter on the tail end - clean and refreshing, if not entirely to style.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Pours a rather dark red - more malt-forward than most American ipas, along the lines of Victory Hop Devil - malts are medium-sweet, with some bready quality to them - copious earthy hops, but, much like their pale ale, their flavor takes more prominence than their bitterness, creating a decent balance - a bit of grapefruit pith - a decent, balanced IPA, but nothing stand-out.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
A belgian pale with an american twist, or rather, more like an american pale ale brewed with belgian yeast - but this is not necessarily a bad thing - fresh growler, consumed with dinner - pours a turbid dark orange, with a sudsy, lasting head - initial whiff smells of earthy american hops, but deeper inhales reveal mint and herbs (sage, mostly), tang citrus, mild belgian yeast phenols - a bit tangy up front, followed through the middle by moderate malt sweetness and herbal character - the tail end dries out pretty well, as earthy hop bitterness takes over, but the sweetness returns a bit too much so in the finish, bringing with it some tangerine and mango - very mild belgian yeast character throughout - a little too much residual sweetness - decent, but needs some tweaking.
notalush (7339) reviewed Pale Ale from Strange Craft Beer Company 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Growler from the brewery - cloudy glowing orange pour, with thick, sticky lace - sweet pale malts hit the nose first, some notes of honey, but earthy hops are the star of the show, with abundant citrus notes - some fruity esters (strawberry) - soft carbonation, medium to light body - a fairly sturdy malt base does not get in the way of the earthy hop flavor - a lot of flavor from the hops, but not a great deal of their bitterness until the finish, which is lightly peppery and minty - some dry, crackery malts on the tail end - decent.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Nitro at the brewery - many thanks to the guy I met today at the brewery that bought me a pint of this - not all that sweet for a sweet stout - actually, it is quite bitter, both from the high hop profile, and the bitterness of the black malts - this is augmented by a subtle coffee character that I probably would not have noticed had I not known it was there - even a touch of tartness on the back end - this is tempered by a moderate sweetness that I assume is from the honey, although I would not have guessed - earthy hop flavor and bitterness - creamy - pretty good.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
[re-rate, originally 3.5 - they have made a second batch of this, attempting to recreate the original mistake batch - they did not succeed - the new batch tastes like straight-up cherry juice, and not very good cherry juice at that - abrasive and hard to drink - difficult to believe that their mistake was much better than a beer they intentionally made] Pint at the brewery - apparently, this brew was made by accident - the brewer intended to make some kind of belgian cherry wheat, but a large amount of the malt they use for their stout got thrown in by accident - however, as Bob Ross would say, "there are not accidents, only happy mistakes" - this one turned out pretty nice - the nose is mostly stout - rich dark malts, some chocolate and roast, a touch of sweet cherry - however, the flavor is mostly tart cherry and some tangy wheat, with only faint stout-ish character in the form of light roast and chocolate - tastes a bit like a tart cherry dunkelweizen at times - even a little sour - nice earthy cherry, despite the fact that it doesn’t use real fruit - it may have been a screw up, but it might be one worth trying to repeat.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Very stout-y black ipa, or very hoppy stout - we decided the later - dark brown, nearly black pour - sticky tan lace - a lot of roast and leafy green hop character in the nose - strong woody hop flavor, but with a lot of roast and sweet chocolate flavors that compliment it well - dry, bitter, almost smoky finish - quite tasty.