Halfacre: Daisy Cutter Pale Ale (USA: American Pale Ale: 5.2% ABV)
Visual: Yellow to apricot. Large white mounded bubbled head. Tiny bubbled carbonation. Head leaves suds.
Nose: Flour. Peach. Lemon curd. Dry. Watermelon.
Body: Stewed apricot. Dry. Flour. Vanilla. Apple pie jelly centres. Moderate hop character. Low to middling bitterness. Pineapple.
Finish: Dried and stewed apricot. Moderate hop prickle and bitterness. Bitterness grows over time. Gelatinous fruit pie centres. Tart apples. Vanilla. Watermelon. Pineapple.
Conclusion: You know, I started off not enamoured with this, but each sip had it grow on me more and more. Initial impressions are dry with a flour touch, which are dominant, only allowing small amounts of fruit come out behind. A good base, but not much else.
As time goes on the fruit rises in a way that I can best describe as if it mixed half stewed fruit and half dried fruit, all mixed up in that gelatinous stuff that you get in fruit pies. It gives a real thickness of feel and flavor is what I mean.
The bitterness has a similar path. It starts low but rises quickly. Never into IPA territory, but solid enough to really give it an edge for a hophead like me. Then, as if that was not enough, time brings out delicious watermelon notes with tart pineapple behind that pick up the beer, dust it off and refresh it for the latter half of enjoyment.
Often for me the dryness of an APA can be an off-putting note and a failure in the beer, making it too harsh to drink. This shows how to get the dryness, matches it with huge flavor and sets out something challenging, rewarding and always giving good character. Definitely in the top few APAs I have encountered.
Background: This was a pretty random grab – A brewery I haven’t tried before from America – figured it was worth a try. Went for their APA as I spend less time with that style – it is hit or miss for me – sometimes great, some times far too dry. Thought it was a good time to roll the dice again and see how this did. Anyway, another one grabbed from Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command. Had an odd thought while drinking – I love that album, absolutely love it, but have never checked out any other At The Drive In stuff. I should correct that at some time. Incidentally on googling I found that this is described as “A west coast Pale Ale chock-full of dank, aromatic hops.”. Much as I enjoyed it, I would not call it “Dank” in any way. Maybe something was lost in the journey to the UK.
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