Crooked Tree Leads Three Reviews

By scot in Beer on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

I am running low on bombers (which isn’t a good thing since I need more for brewing) so I turned to some beers I picked up while on a recent Grand Rapids, Michigan trip, that are 12 ouncers. In case you missed the excursion, I visited Siciliano’s Market who sells beer by the individual bottle. Yes, I walked away with a case of 24 different beers.

I recently was listening to some podcast on drinking beer and the craft brewery owner, can’t remember which, said that you should not drink from lightest in color to darkest, but from less alcohol and lightest body to biggest beers. air jordan 7 Makes sense and it usually seems that light color = light beer. Not with craft beers. Now I don’t know if my tasting followed that premise, but I tried and I wanted to save the American IPAs for last since I enjoy them liking finding a $100 bill on the side walk.

First up was Scotty Karate Scotch Ale by Dark Horse Brewing Company. A Scottish heavy ale that seemed to be infused with smoke, maybe peat. The beer was overall well balanced but the smoke was the one sticking point in terms making this beer rate higher for me. A little toning down of the smoke might put this beer over the top. Still a good beer with bready and toffee aromas and flavors coming through. 7/10

The middle beer I went into with some apprehension. Arbor Brewing Company seems to put out beers that don’t agree with me for some reason or another. I want to like them, I just can’t. Unfortunately, Sacred Cow IPA, and American IPA, reaffirmed my apprehensions. It started out ominously with the beer shooting out of the bottle as soon as I took off the cap. Cleaning up messes while trying to enjoy some American craft beer doesn’t make me happy. The aroma of the beer with the hops mix is really enticing and even in the mouth it is a good beer until the pepper hits. I didn’t get the pepper in the aroma, so it caught me off guard. Too much and lingering. An average beer, for me, because of the pepper and not something I will pursue again. 6/10

The last beer of the night, Crooked Tree IPA, was the one I most anticipated (Rich has told me wonderful things about this beer) and I wasn’t let down. A good end to the evening. The aroma is huge on hops: pine and citrus that are softened slightly by a floral hop addition. air jordan 9 A great combination that made it hard to resist tasting and wafting even more. There is a sweetness to the aroma and taste that help to balance the beer. The floral hops come out in the taste with mild bitterness at most. A really smooth drinker that is well worth a try from anyone that is a hop head. 9/10

Home brew club meeting tonight. I am bringing my Pot Licker Chocolate Milk Stout to share. I am hoping to get some feedback to make it better as most of my friends have liked it and I haven’t received any negativity. I know there is no way my second beer is flawless. 🙂 Enjoy!