craft beer

Sweet Water’s 420 Extra Pale Ale

IMG_0290While Sweet Water’s 420 Extra Pale Ale’s name first conjures images of those like Jay and Silent Bob, it gets its name from the day it was brewed. Originally created on April 20th 1997 it gets it’s amusing title.

Since 420 Extra Pale Ale is part of Sweet Water’s year round selection and their most popular so I picked up a sixer at the local liquor store and give it a try. It poured nicely with about two fingers worth of head at the end. There was an average amount of carbonation so the head vanished rather quickly. Do to the average carbonation the lacing on the glass was apparent but still minimal.

The color was a light gold to strawberry blonde. It has a full aroma of hops with hints of jasmine and a light citrus odor. The taste is light and clean, with the hops at the front and a bitter finish. Hidden in the mix is a light floral flavor, citrus and the taste of cut grass. Sweet Water describes it as “A tasty West Coast Style Pale Ale with a stimulating hop character and a crisp finish.”

There’s no shortage of Pale Ales out there and with most of them having no noticeable difference between them, it is nice to find one that has a fuller flavor to it. 420 would go nicely with most any activity and most foods. If you haven’t tried this beer yet I recommend giving it a try.

 

Brewer: Sweet Water Brewing Company

ABV: 5.4%

Rating: 4.1 pints out of 5

Tusker…A Taste of Africa

IMG_0459In 1922, Kenyan Brewery co-founder George Hurst was killed by an elephant during an African Hunting expedition. His legend lives on with a beer the brewery named Tusker, in his honor.

Tusker is the highest selling beer in East Africa and for good reason. Made with 100%, locally sourced, African ingredients. The spring water used comes from the Aberdare Mountains, the barley is from the Maasai Mara and Savannah, and the yeast is developed locally. All of this helps, as their website says, “Makes you feel closely connected to the brand’s origins and roots.” Considered a light beer, this lager is crisp and outdoorsy. There’s a hint of residual sweetness, but a mix of woodsy flavor. Its a common beer in Africa, and much better than our common beers of the United States. I had the opportunity to drink it several times while staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Jambo House Lodge. It’s served endlessly to their guests staying on the club level. Perhaps it was the atmosphere of an African Village, or being in the company of wildebeests, giraffes and zebras, but I very much-enjoyed Tusker and its distinct taste.

Interesting that East African Breweries Limited is noted as the best company to work for in Kenya. With great beers like Tusker around the factory, Id say it would be easy to love working there too.

I can’t give a review of a beer called tusker, without mentioning my favorite elephant foundation. The Daphne Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is an amazing foundation and elephant orphanage that raises elephants that have been orphaned by the killing of adult females for the ivory trade. However, baby elephants can’t drink anything but their mother’s milk for the first two years of their life. Through three decades of trial and error, Dr. Daphne Sheldrick created the only successful milk substitute for baby elephants. Her orphanage rescues baby elephants and raises them until they are able to live in Africa’s preserve with other herds of elephants, many of who are previous orphans from the nursery. For much more information or to foster an orphaned elephant visit www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org.

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Brewer:  East African Breweries Limited

ABV: 4.20

Rating: 4.4 pints out of 5

 

By: Cindy R.

 

Hotter Than Helles Lager

IMG_0148Cigar City Brewing’s “hotter Than Helles Lager” is part of their year round beer selection. I had been interested in trying it for a while now and decided to pick some up last week. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of it since lagers tend to be rather uneventful and quite honestly, boring. What I found was a beer that was neither of these things.

While the word “hell” is a German adjective meaning “light”, “blonde”, “pale”, etc., the word “helles” is a noun meaning “bright” or “a light one”. Given the color of the beer this is a very apt name for it. The color is very light, I would describe it as pale blonde. There is a lighter than normal carbonation to this beer which makes it even easier to drink leaving almost no head after pouring. The lower carbonation does inhibit foam though so expect no real lacing on the glass.

Cigar City Brewing describes the smell as grain, hay and honey, however, in addition, I also notice elements of fresh cut grass and a fair amount of sour lemon.

The flavor is fresh and light. The lower carbonation comes into play again creating a very light mouthfeel to the beer. Quoting Cigar City again they describe the taste as having a malty backbone with hay and honey. I did find that there is a good amount of bready malt flavors but they were offset by a decent amount of hops giving it quite a bit of bitter citrus flavor with a clean enjoyable finish.

With all the boring lagers out there it was nice to have one that at least had some complexity to it. I’m not saying this is going to replace any full-bodied beers you enjoy drinking but for a lager it’s a good. If you’re looking for something to drink on a hot day or something light and refreshing while mowing the lawn (cheers for that Ryan) this is your beer.

 

Brewer: Cigar City Brewing

ABV: 5%

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 pints.