Why Can't IBU - Stillwater Artisanal Ales

onix1agr

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On Tap at The Memphis Taproom, served in a tulip glass

Why Cant IBU? I don't know, why cant u? This beer has a nice light golden color with some trace specs of faded yellow up towards the sides. A nice bright white head of foam up top with some vigor and sticking power, a slight haze throughout the liquid, looking quite nice, retention is there. For a kinda low ABV'ed Belgian IPA, this has more of a hoppy scent than Belgian yeast influence. I get some lemon, orange, pine and earthy scents coming out instead of bready yeasty malt. The musk kinda jumps out. Pretty smelling IMO, but I do get some perfume scents with warming. A very straight forward ale here, I get some of the Belgian bready yeast up front with some hop taste. Not your normal Belgian IPA, I am not entirely sure if this is classified right. Some pineapple notes come through with the warming. Not getting a stitch of the 6% alcohol, which is quite low, but there is a whole lot of flavor. Feel is between light and medium with a nice felt carb going for it. Not my favorite beer, or IPA, or Belgian IPA, whatever it is, but it works for me for a go. I could drink alot of this, but I would probably get bored by the 3rd glass

Serving type: on-tap

12-14-2012 21:37:39 | More by onix1agr

yourefragile

District of Columbia

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

02-10-2013 17:57:21 | More by yourefragile

VelvetExtract

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

A-This brew is a hazy, honey hue. Respectable head. Substantial lacing.

S-Fruity but sweet with some solid notes of grass. Hops also display a candied citrus aroma. Sweet and spicy cracker malt. Lively yeast. Well balanced.

T-The flavor is a bit sweeter than I would have liked. Hops are not too aggressive. The beer is very proportional. Mild bitterness.

M-A bit sticky. Feels bigger than it's gravity. Softer bubbles. Drinkable enough.

O/D-Wasn't in love with this one. Not aggressive enough for me. More along the lines of a Belgian Pale than a Belgian IPA in my opinion.

Serving type: on-tap

01-15-2013 19:20:21 | More by VelvetExtract

bmontoto

California

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

01-09-2013 20:55:02 | More by bmontoto

InfernoBoss

California

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

12-29-2012 08:10:01 | More by InfernoBoss

Tiburon

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +1%

12-16-2012 04:26:27 | More by Tiburon

lillitnn92

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -17.9%

12-08-2012 18:50:20 | More by lillitnn92

Boone757

Maryland

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

11-30-2012 21:33:48 | More by Boone757

Gatordaddy

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

11-27-2012 18:01:02 | More by Gatordaddy

fmccormi

New York

3.88/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

On tap at Of Love and Regret in Baltimore, MD. Served in a 12oz stemmed goblet-flute kinda lookin’-glass.

Appearance (4.0): A one-finger head of fluffy and wet-looking foam comes off the pour. The body is absolutely perfect: a medium orange-amber and hazy, but not cloudy at all. Some rentention, good but not outstanding, and some moderate lacing but pretty good considering it’s on tap rather than coming from a bottle-conditioned individual pour.

Smell (4.0): Hops dominated by a bright, syrupy orange-citrus note paired with a very light, pale grain character; very delicate floral notes. Some light hay and spice. Lots of good qualities in the nose, but not as fragrant as I would’ve hoped.

Taste (3.5): Surprisingly delicate and balanced, to be honest—but an excellent white and black pepper spice note jumps out, over a very nice, lightly toasted, rustic multigrain bread character of medium weight. The hops are surprisingly well integrated, predominantly floral with a moderate citrus pith bitterness, in the vein of white grapefruit (just astringent citric bitterness, less citrus sweetness). Good flavors, though I wish the pepper / spice component took a backseat, just a little bit, to the hops.

Mouthfeel (5.0): Near perfect. Maybe perfect. Lush carbonation, with an assertive but not aggressive prickle; lightly oily body just around medium weight, with a dry finish. Excellent—very easy to drink, but has the aggressively dry, hop-oily characteristics of a hop-forward beer that won’t back down, in terms of feel. Which, of course, fits quite naturally with this saison-esque feeling beer, besides.

Overall (4.0): As mentioned above in the tasting notes, this was a good beer, overall, with some good to great qualities, but it wasn’t the hop bomb-saison/BPA fusion I was expecting or hoping for. Still, glad to have tried it, and it’s clear from drinking this and Brian has a vision for each of his beers and exceptional skill and ability in making that vision a reality. In this case, my vision of what this beer could be may not have lined up perfectly with the brewer’s—but that isn’t to say this isn’t a perfectly good beer, because it clearly is.

Serving type: on-tap

11-26-2012 17:14:30 | More by fmccormi

mendvicdog

Maryland

4/5  rDev +1%

11-23-2012 03:39:36 | More by mendvicdog

DaveHack

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

11-23-2012 02:04:19 | More by DaveHack

harrylee773

Illinois

2/5  rDev -49.5%

11-19-2012 15:27:41 | More by harrylee773

bmur112

Maryland

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

11-11-2012 02:17:17 | More by bmur112

duceswild

Maryland

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

11-09-2012 03:10:52 | More by duceswild

mcphish22

Maryland

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

10-23-2012 12:15:03 | More by mcphish22

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.43/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

After sampling Stillwater's less than stellar high alcohol offerings the other day at Max's, it was a complete relief and joy to come upon this beer.

The beer pours an attractive hazy gold color with surprisingly good head retention and lacing. The nose is just lovely in this beer, showcasing an attractive intermix of light tropical fruit, honey, orange citrus, tangerine and light vanilla. The flavor profile replicates the nose in this excellent, well balanced IPA, with the beer showing just enought hoppy bitterness on the finish to counter the light tropical fruit. Ultimately, this beer is on the dry side, which I think enhances its drinkability. Mouthfeel is otherwise fairly full (for a Belgian IPA), but the beer is not at all heavy or tiring. The finish is long, lightly bitter, and spice filled.

Just delicious and served by the imperial pint at Max's. This may well be the best beer I've ever had from Stillwater (reminds me of a hoppier version of the solid stateside saison), and hopefully will be a beer that will be available on a regular basis.

Edit from 11/2/12. Tried the regular draft version at max's on Saturday. While still enjoyable, I thought the draft version really paled in comparison to the cask version sampled previously. Probably would rate the regular draft version a straight 4... still good, but no where near as excellent as the cask version.

Serving type: cask

10-22-2012 22:46:37 | More by johnmichaelsen