Notch Session Ale - Notch Brewing

jp110099

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +16.8%

06-06-2012 01:50:24 | More by jp110099

mountdew1

New Hampshire

3.46/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into an imperial pint glass. Color was a darker amber, with a thick foamy white head. A bit of lacing from the head as it diminished. Tons of streams of carbonation rose from the bottom. Aroma was primarily floral, with a bit of hoppiness in the back end. Flavor was fairly subtle, a bit of white bread of front, with a slight bitter hoppy finish. Ok in the mouth, a bit overly tingly on the mouth, but a decent bit of coat. Overall not bad. Nothing outstanding, could definitely have a bit more flavor.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 22:46:58 | More by mountdew1

BRYeleJR

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-18-2013 12:30:54 | More by BRYeleJR

ecar027

Massachusetts

3.36/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Appearance: Very light amber, unusually so. Whiskey coloured. Not super bright but clear enough.

Smell: Nice, clean grapefruit citrus notes on the hops, maybe some lightly roasted coffee on the malt side.

Taste: The grapefruit citrus hops comes through again in the taste. I don't get much of the malt at all but maybe some light toast. Balanced.

Mouthfeel: This is where the beer goes from average to bad. My first bottle was dead flat, no hiss on opening and the cap was loose. No carbonation at all, I had to dump it. I tried another couple bottles and found that they were carbonated, but not very and it felt to me like all the caps came off too easily. I can understand that this is a session beer so maybe that implies low carbonation but I wonder if I got a dud batch. I like my beers on the unfizzy end of the spectrum but I really felt that this could have been carried by some more carbonation. Very watery mouth-feel even in the most carbonated bottle. It ruined the beer.

UPDATE:
The next beer had much better carbonation. The first three I tried yesterday were on the same side of the 6-pack so perhaps on that side the bottles had been clipped during handling? Who knows but the carbonation was much better on tonight's beer and the mouthfeel was much better. I've bumped the score accordingly for this bottle and chalked the carbonation problem up to bad luck.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 01:06:29 | More by ecar027

TripelMark

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-08-2013 19:46:21 | More by TripelMark

KeithThompson

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-03-2013 11:23:50 | More by KeithThompson

MAbeerNE1

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +3%

03-14-2013 23:29:56 | More by MAbeerNE1

BostonHops

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

03-06-2013 02:42:58 | More by BostonHops

Maxwell

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

The beer pours a nice hazy amber brown with some slight golden highlights. The head on this beer is big and creamy but it has some rockier patches. The beer’s body is clean but very hazy, and there are only haphazard bubbles traveling up the glass. The beer’s lacing is fluffy and dry, leaving spider webs across the glass. On the nose, the beer smells of caramel malts and bitter hops with a slight onion character, which is probably due to the older hops. The malt smells warmly caramelly and welcoming, which actually has me thinking of a bigger beer than this actually is. On the tongue, the beer tastes sweet with a touch of light grassy bitters, but some great malt character shinning through. The taste begins with light watery malt, but quickly opens into caramel malts that meet a middling grassy bitter flavor and melds nicely together. The malt eventually reaches an almost creamy finish, touching briefly upon whole grain bread notes before washing away to leave a lingering light medicinal bitter taste. I actually really like this beer’s flavors and complexity, and I could absolutely drink a lot of it. On the mouth, the beer feels just barely above light in body, with nice mellow carbonation that leaves a brief, slight prickle. The tongue is left dry but the sides of the mouth have nice amounts of saliva on them. Overall, this beer is what I imagine people drinking in The Lord of the Rings and other fantastical tales. Yes, I realize there are way too many hops in this beer for the medieval time period, but it just feels like that to me. The malts are sweet and complex while still being subdued, and the mouthfeel is perfect for knocking back. I like this beer. You should try it.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2013 03:53:05 | More by Maxwell

mdfb79

New York

3.75/5  rDev +3%

02-12-2013 17:50:21 | More by mdfb79

hockeyfighter19

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +3%

11-10-2012 01:52:20 | More by hockeyfighter19

Brewsephus

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +9.9%

11-01-2012 01:58:28 | More by Brewsephus

JeffreyJDavis

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +3%

10-31-2012 00:18:00 | More by JeffreyJDavis

markgoodman10

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +9.9%

10-23-2012 15:24:52 | More by markgoodman10

Rekrule

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

09-27-2012 02:10:25 | More by Rekrule

KarlosT

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had this beer at the Amesbury Beer Festival on Sep 22 2012.

Most of the beers were served from bottles into small 3oz plastic dixie cups.

Although I took notes on the 20+ different beers that I tried, it is difficult to remember all of the details associated with each beer. My apologies to readers of these notes. However, I did pay attention to my overall scores, and noted what I thought were unique positives and negatives w/ each beer.

Note that for me:
< 2.5 = probably would not finish the beer
3.0 = drinkable beer, but likely would not buy again or look for
>3.5 = will try to buy again in the future

Very good W.Coast style IPA. Could definitely tell that there were Cascade and other citrusy type hops.

Serving type: on-tap

09-23-2012 15:11:20 | More by KarlosT

juliusseizure

New York

3.75/5  rDev +3%

08-05-2012 00:22:05 | More by juliusseizure

rondufresne

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

07-30-2012 12:36:52 | More by rondufresne

ms11781

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

07-29-2012 15:38:30 | More by ms11781

trevorpost

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -17.6%

06-27-2012 22:26:28 | More by trevorpost

PatGreer

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +9.9%

06-26-2012 01:49:58 | More by PatGreer

JaredKent

Rhode Island

4.13/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Amber in color, just under a light brown ale. The head was strong and filled the glass. Lasts throughout the quaffing as well.

Scent: Upfront there’s an extremely pleasant American hop aroma. I get spice. I get citrus. I get a little pine. I love this combination, whatever they are using I just decided what I’m using for my next brew. There’s a hint of malt to balance it out, but not much.

Taste: The hops once again come through up front. Pine stands out the most. A hint of bitter on the finish. The hops are upfront but not powerful enough to be an IPA. The malt is disappointing. There isn’t much, go figure. Not quite enough to balance out the hops. It just kind of falls short.

Mouthfeel: Very light body. Short presence on the palate. Carbonation is medium level.

Overall: Easy to drink and the hop profile is awesome. Unfortunately the malt just isn’t there to balance it out. I guess this is to be expected from a low gravity session beer. I found myself wishing for more body, but you can only do so much when trying to keep the ABV low. Definitely a great tasting and flavorful session beer. I love the philosophy that Notch stands behind and it’s one I try to stick close to when homebrewing. An awesome beer that is easily drinkable throughout a long summers day.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2012 01:23:09 | More by JaredKent

s1ckboy

Massachusetts

2.5/5  rDev -31.3%

05-29-2012 16:50:40 | More by s1ckboy

calmstock

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-20-2012 00:21:21 | More by calmstock

cardern

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-03-2012 04:16:24 | More by cardern