Tallgrass Brewing Co. - IPA

This is a special review for me. A couple months ago on twitter I stumbled upon the Tallgrass Brewing Co. out of Manhattan, Kansas. I then sent them a playful tweet wishing I could taste some of their beer. Obviously, Tallgrass is not sent to Pennsylvania or I wouldn’t have asked. Not only did Tallgrass Brewing Co. send in four of their flagship beers, Tallgrass’ founder Jeff Gill sent a handwritten note. Extremely classy, thank you very much Jeff. Today is going to be the first of a four part series on the Tallgrass beers I was sent. We’re going to look at their IPA today:

Tallgrass Brewing Co. IPA - Manhattan, Kansas
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 60
Pricepoint: ?

The Tallgrass IPA has an interesting history (as is viewed on their website). But basically, it was a homebrew recipe that was then refined into the beer we have today. They also give a little history on the IPA itself.

Another aspect of Tallgrass that should really be recognized is their devotion to canning craft beer rather than bottling it. You can read Tallgrass’ “canifesto” on their website.

But onto the beer.

The beer pours a hazy, pumpkin colored orange. Relatively aggressive carbonatoin upon viewing. The head is an eggshell white that dissipates relatively quickly leaving a layer of wonderful bubbles on top.

Obviously, since it’s an IPA, the nose is hop-aggressive but there is a really solid malt backbone to this brew. Really looking forward to tasting it, I am already impressed.

The beer begins very piny-hop forward and then quickly moves into the pale malt backbone with the hops taking the main stage at the end of the taste again. I’m not too sure about the hop varieties in the beer.

This IPA can definitely hold it’s own with other craftbeer IPAs out there right now. People in Kansas are lucky to be able to obtain Tallgrass Brewing Co’s beers. They’re doing great things out there in the Great Plains. Again, thanks to Jeff and the crew at Tallgrass Brewing Co for a taste of Kansas craft beer!

Cheers!

Caldera Brewing Co. Rose Petal Imperial Golden Ale

Today I decided to open I bottle I bought just yesterday. We’re looking at the Caldera Brewing Company’s Kettle Series Rose Petal. It’s an Imperial Blonde that’s brewed with rose petals and added Bulgarian Rose Water.

It’s a beautiful beer to look at. Pours crystal clear with a glowing golden tone. Head pours healthy and then fades to a thing foam. Really great looking.

Nose really doesn’t jump out at me. Pale malt tones with a tea-like herbal tone to it. Really nothing noticeable, and that includes the rose.

It tastes similar to the nose. There is a floral tone to it. Not hoppy floral but like an herbal tea floral. It’s difficult to describe. Luckily, I happened to have a bottle of rose water around so I took a sniff of it and I just couldn’t make the connection. The beer as a blonde ale is really very solid. The pale malts work wonderfully with the carbo to create an extremely refreshing beer. This would have been nice to have during those 95+ dog days of summer .

Overall, it is a solid beer. I have to say though, I had a difficult time pulling the “rose” flavors from the beer. I’m happy I was able to try this limited release and I look forward to more of what Caldera is going to offer.

Cheers!

I’m Back with 3 Floyds Robert The Bruce!

Greetings! I am back. Now, I haven’t blogged in quite some time. This is mainly due to laziness and lack of motivation. Alas, I recently came across some hard-to-get-in-Philly gems that have turned my attitude around. 

Before I begin the review, I have to give a huge shout-out to my good friend Greg. About a month ago now Greg took a roadtrip out to the midwest and just happened to stop in Chicago where he loaded up (and I mean LOADED up) on craft beer that we can’t get our hands on here in Philadelphia (Three Floyds, Goose Island, New Holland etc…) Being the good friend that he is, he also picked me up some. Okay, let’s start the review:

Today we are taking a look at 3 Floyds Robert the Bruce.

So this is my first Three Floyds out of the bottle. Robert The Bruce is what’s called a Scottish Ale. Scottish Ales basically go through an extra long boil to carmelize the wort and grants it it’s typical deep brown hue.

It pours a deep mahogany with about a finger of head that dissipates quickly into a delicate ring around the glass. Immediately the nose is of caramelized malt, not quite intoxicatingly sweet because it does have a nice hop balance to the nose. The taste is biscuity with an excellent malt sweetness. Really solid earthiness that just brings you to the Scottish Moors. The finish coats your mouth with a sweet maltiness and resides on the palet until you change beers. 

Now while this beer may not be mind-blowing or extreme, I think styles like the Scottish Ale really create the backbone for the more extreme beers. My goal is to not focus so much on the “rarest” or the “most extreme” beer I can get my hands on but rather build myself a backbone on the English, Scottish, and German styles. I think this will benefit my palet much more than drinking every extreme beer there is.