Wednesday, March 21, 2012

It's election season again?

Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
Location: The can says Cold Springs, MN. But they're based in San Francisco, CA. Brain = hurt.
Name: Bitter American
Type: American pale ale
ABV: 4.4%
Purchased from: Wine Warehouse, Charlottesville, VA
Price: $2.50

I suppose the name of this pretty much sums up how I feel about the current (past, possibly future state) of the American political scene. It's just a circus. But I'm no political pundit. I'm here to talk about beer. More specifically, this beer. The one with the space monkey on the can. Physically on the can, not like the space monkey is on the can as a euphemism for going to the rest room. Bitter American is pleasing to the eye. A golden hued amber that I think moves closer to copper. The head is rich and off white, a lightly toasted almond color. So far, Bitter American has a lot going for it. Space monkey on the can (but not using the bathroom), visually appealing, and sitting right in front of me needing to be consumed. Before I obliged to its destructive wishes, I stuck my nose in the glass and took a deep draw. Happy citrus hops welcome you to Bitter American. There is a distinctive orange, perhaps tangerine, quality to the beginning of the bouquet. Towards the middle the hops get a little more bitter and grapefruit aromas arise. Past the bountiful hops is the delicately balanced sweetness of malt. Not overpowering or seemingly too sugary. Folks, this is a session beer. The prickly sensation the carbonation provides is nice. It's not going to blow the top of your dome off with aggressive hop characteristics. In fact, the hops mellow out quite nicely in the transition from smell to taste. Sure you get the nice blast of citrus zest straight away, but it doesn't make your face go puckered. The malt keep this beer close to the space monkey station. A slightly hint of nuttiness accompanied by a bread flavor set your taste buds up for one last go at the hops. The finish is crisp, dry, and decidedly bitter but in the good way. For the record, I burped and it was piney. SCIENCE! Shockingly this beer has a good amount of body to it. More so than the Evil 8 (a dubbel) I drank earlier and that had almost double the alcohol content. This is a quality American IPA.

Space monkey, that funky monkey.

4 comments:

  1. Definitely a cool looking can. When you put the price, is that the price for the drink alone? Are they in make your own 6-packs? Full 6-packs?

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  2. All of the prices are for singles. I don't usually buy packs of beers on my first go around with them.

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  3. sounds like one I would enjoy. Is it available locally?

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  4. It is! I've seen it at Total Wine. It's a limited release though so hurry on it.

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