Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
From May 2008
From my notes of April 19, 2008
I was in the mood for something light yet tasty so I ordered one, let's see how it fares:
Nice clear golden colour with a 2 finger head of foam. Some lacing and the head retention was good.
The nose is very light but I did get a malty smell but not much more.
The taste had notes of grain and malt and though it was delicate, it was pretty tasty and very smooth and drinkable. It had a lightish mouthfeel and it finished with just a touch of citrus hops that lasted through the aftertaste. This one is really easy to put away and though I only had the 1 glass, I could easily have sessioned on it. Imho, it is pretty true to style. Recommended when you're looking for something on the lighter side.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
From Sep 2007
I saw this one on the menu board and had to try it.
It poured a slightly hazy copper with a small but firm head of foam.
The smell is malty, grainy, and has some notes of biscuit.
The first sip is pretty sweet. I note that they use honey malt(along with Munich Pilsner) and it was certainly there. I also tasted some grain and after a few more sips, some bittering in the background. It was pretty smooth and pretty well balanced. The finish is dry and the mouthfeel is medium. I also noticed that the initial sweetness from the honey on the first sips mellowed out by the time I got halfway through the pint and it leaned more toward a biscuit/bready malt presence. A good, solid interpretation of the style and one that I'd drink again.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
From Sep 2007
On Cask
This poured a clear, well, slightly hazy gold with a good 2 finger head of foam with lots of lacing. I love to watch the cascading head and, quite frankly, that gives it a good edge when it comes to my scoring on appearance.
The smell has strong notes of grapefruit *and* caramel malt. One of the best balanced noses for brews of the style.
First sip and the grapefruit just jumps out at me and is absolutely delicious but, in the background and swiftly moving in to share center stage, is that very tasty malt. Further sips and I find a complete harmony with the hops, which now also take on a floral presence, and malt and I reaffirm my belief that this is one of the best balanced IPAs out there. It finishes bittersweet, the carbo is very light, and the mouthfeel is silky smooth. Wonderful stuff!
Bottom line: My favourite brew from Coopersmith's and it's going to take a hell of a brew to knock it off its thrown. Highly recommended!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
From Sep 2007
Sampled Sept 22, 2007
It poured a clear medium gold with a small head of foam that shrank slowly leaving a fine layer with a bit of lacing.
The smell has some sweet malt, hops and grain but it's light on the nose.
The taste on first sip....very smooth was my initial impression. Light flavours of citrus hops and caramel malt with a bit of grain. Very buttery mouthfeel to it with medium carbo. A few more sips in and I notice a lot of bread and the hops are more noticeable. It finishes slightly bitter and has a short aftertaste. In my book, this is a good APA that maybe could benefit from kicking it up a notch or 2 in the flavour department. It went well with the pizza I had. ;^)
Bitterbill (4330) reviewed Rye PA from CooperSmiths Pub & Brewing 8 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
From Sep 2007
From my notes of July 29th, 2007
It had a nice clear amber colour with a good 2 finger head of foam when first poured and shrank to afine broken layer and had lots of lacing.
The smell had a grainy and malty nose.
The taste on first sip had good carmel malt, grain, with some fruity hop flavour to balance the malt and further sips brought out some orange and maybe black cherries. It finished dry and had a fairly long aftertaste. Another nice brew from the gang at Coopersmith's!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
From Jun 2007
This pours a very dark brown bordering on pitch black with a very small head of foam.
The smell I'm getting is of roasted malt but it's very light on the nose.
The taste is very complex. I'm getting some roasted malt but I'm also getting some sweetness and that's followed by some fruitiness, mainly plum and raisin, and a bit of citrus in the background. Very tasty and very easy drinking. Wow. I can't keep my glass on the table for very long....I just want to and have to take another sip. The finish isn't even slightly bitter in the least; I just get more of that dark fruit goodness and it has a very smooth mouthfeel. I think this is a fine example of an American Porter and anyone that visits Coopersmiths in FT Collins should *not* miss trying it. I love it!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
From Jun 2007
This pours a nice clear amber with a 1 finger head of foam that stays around for the entire session and it has good lacing.
The nose is light. I get some roasted malt and some biscuit.
The taste is pretty big on roasted malt on the first sip and is followed by some caramel malt and notes of biscuit. Midway through, I get a touch of floral hop character that brings some bitterness near and through the finish. It's, imho, a very dry finish for an Amber and there's just a touch of harshness on my tongue that does detract from my enjoying this brew even more. Still, I certainly wouldn't turn one down if given another opportunity.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
From May 2007
This one poured a clear deep amber with an ample head of foam. The foam shrank a bit during the session but never left and there's plenty of lacing.
The smell was sweetish. I noted caramel malt and just a touch of hop.
The taste on first sip has a good caramel malt flavour with some fruitiness....sweet cherries. Swishing the beer in my mouth I'm getting some light hop bitterness that balances out the sweetness nicely and making for a very smooth taste overall. It finishes crisp and dry. Plenty of flavour here and very drinkable. I like it.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
From Mar 2007
The Doppel Jabi poured a clear ruby red with a smallish head of foam and some lacing.
The smell has huge hop character; I note pine, grass, and grapefruit.
The taste is as huge on the hops(see above) as the smell is up front. Tons of bitterness circulating in my mouth and then, I get some good malt sweetness that adds some balance to this DIPA. More sips in and as I get more familiar with the brew, I'm admiring the complexity and interactivity of the flavours. I'm also getting some of the alcohol kick which, btw, my bar keep says is around 9%abv and not the 11% that's listed. Maybe a change of formula since the original review? But hey, DIPAs are for sipping and savouring and I appreciated the fact that Coopersmiths serves this beauty in 10oz glasses only.
Bottom line: I enjoyed the heck out of this one and I hope to have it again before they run out but if I miss out, I'll circle Feb 22 on next years calendar for sure. ;^)
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
From Dec 2006
Poured from 750ml capped and foiled bottle(2006 bottling) a clear(until the second por) light reddish gold with a large head of foam that dissipated slowly leaving a solid layer with lots of lacing.
The smell is very spicy. I can get nutmeg, cinnamon, some banana, clove. Pretty darned complex.
The taste is as spicy as the smell. Cinnamon seems to dominate but I can taste everything I mentioned in the smell plus there's Ginger and some dark fruit in there as well. Hint: The tastes are at their *peak* when you take really small sips; larger sips seem to blend all the flavours together too much and so, imo, diminishes the enjoyment of this Ale.
Oh, and I notice a fairly abundant amount of solid bits of floating yeast and although on the small side, the fact that they're there takes points, for me, off the appearance score but doesn't change the fact that this is a tasty Spiced beer. A more careful pour would probably stop the majority of them reaching your glass but, like I said, they're *really* small.
I notice that there's no given abv given for this brew and if I were to take a guess, I'd say it was somewhere between 7 and 8%abv as there's no alcohol in the taste and there's just a bit of warming.
Bottom line: Coopersmith's bottles a brew and I like it. I think the name Jingle Ale is appropriate because it does "feel" like Christmas drinking it. Give it a shot, I say. ;^)