Terrapin Samurai Krunkles - Terrapin Beer Company

kangarooAdam59

Pennsylvania

4.04/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanx Damian74Shensky,

Into a pint glass:

A: hazy copper colored body with a two finger foamy white that gets lumpy after a minute, some light sticky lacing graces the sides of the glass, some carbonation is seen rising

S: hops, super light ginger, light malts

T: sweet and bitter at different times taking the hops, ginger and green tea and combining pretty good with light malts

M: light to medium, slightly sticky, coats the mouth and tongue decently, sticky sweet aftertaste and finish

O: hey, I like this one, good AIPA that's a bit different than other ones on the market, so it stands out a bit more

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 00:18:33 | More by kangarooAdam59

Pencible

Virginia

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

A: This poured a Nearly opaque light copper with a bit of white head.
S: It smelled like earthy copper and sweet caramel, with some bready yeast and a bit of citrus.
T: It tasted like citrus and copper hops, with some sweet caramel and ginger. It had a clean and bitter aftertaste.
M: It was slightly thick with moderate carbonation. Decent body.
D: This didn't really have the unique scent or taste I was expecting. Not a terrible IPA, but not all that great either. The finish was smooth, so it was at least easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 01:10:49 | More by Pencible

cosmicevan

New York

3.63/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

picked this up when i was in NC a few months ago. probably shouldn't have waited this long, but forgot i had it! oh well, bear that in mind when reading this review as this is certainly a bit long in the tooth. picked up for $8.99. enjoyed from my terrapin snifter.

a - poured a really murky orange with a foamy off white ipa-ish head that dissolved away leaving nice chunks on the side of the glass.

s - comes up fairly malty (duh) with a good dosing of jasmine, tea leaves, and a glazing of ginger. some muted tropical fruit but seems to be more jasmine and tea than anything else.

t - wow, the nose is amplified a zillion times in the flavor. BOOM ginger. BOOM green tea. BOOM jasmine. BOOM malts. there is really no sign of hops in this at all at this point. it was pretty shocking at first, but after a few sips really seems like a green tea beer. it is pretty good if you like these flavors and i don't mind them although i'm far from a big green tea drinker.

m - interesting. finish is a touch bitter, but mostly malty and tea like.

o - definitely different. not sure if this was much better fresher or not...i imagine so, but the reviews are a roller coaster of love and hate. but that makes sense as this is definitely something that i would see as polarizing...much like green tea.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 20:52:35 | More by cosmicevan

chickenflea

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

22oz bottle, purchased for $8 from Total Wine. Poured into a snifter. Awesome noticeably ginger aroma, and green tea. It's like an Arizona Tea concoction with alcohol and floral hops featured. Lower carbonation, above average body. Texture is more right on for a double IPA. Good herbal mildly soapy hop aroma. Complex, light bitter, with some zest. Amber/orange color made hazy by lots of particles suspended in the body. Very creative take on an IPA. Reminds me of a mango IPA from Cigar City. Smooth and balanced. Excellent, interesting brew. Would love to revisit.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2013 23:38:14 | More by chickenflea

Jadjunk

Georgia

3.76/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75

"Taking the Orient and the rest of the world by storm, Krunkles returns! In this edition of the bearded IPA brewer's saga, "Samurai Krunkles," as he was once known in the Far East, pulls out all the hips from his Katana's sheath to make this Asian flared brew. While traveling around the Pacific in a souped up rickshaw pulled by his trusty side kick Cato, Krunkles uncovered unique brewing ingredients such as jasmine rice, jasmine green tea and the finest ginger the Orient had to offer for this Samurai master's ale. Cheers!" Brewed in the style of an American IPA with ginger and jasmine green tea leaves. No bottle date, produced in August 2012.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to my Terrapin Snifter. Served north of 51º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Golden white creamy head over a golden orange amber body with a medium haze. Subtle but frantic carbonation. Slightly above average retention, light frothy surface cover. A decent appearance. 3.5

(Smell) Citrusy, spicy and herbal hops over a caramel and rye malt bed with a pinch of honey. Notes of herbal jasmine and even more notes of green tea leaves intensify the herbal hop quality, carrying a perky vegetal bitterness to it. Ginger is slightly more subtle- it doesn't contribute much to the overall aroma besides some minor malt complexity, it's difficult to find beneath the caramel and rye. I was hoping for a more bold hop character to compliment the elevated bitterness of the herbal additives. A more dominant ginger profile would have been pleasant also. Potentially, it's a very busy aroma but not all of the aromas give their best show; yet more often than not, the aroma aims to please. 3.5

(Taste) Bold lightly roasted caramel bread and pale malt base with a trailing note of floral and herbal hops and jasmine with a medium bitterness. Most of the flavors are well chosen for the theme and nearly all are well balanced, yet none in particular come forward as the highlight of this beer. Ginger is exceptionally faint, even in the flavor; some more crystallized ginger would have been a decent compliment for the malt profile. The lightness of the body reveals an evident green tea and honey finish with a pleasant herbal mildness. Aside from not having any pronounced malt or hop notes, the beer is well balanced and largely drinkable with particularly pleasing flavors for the tea-loving crowd. 3.75

(Mouthfeel) Slick, chewy texture with very little carbonation presence throughout; a good call for the green tea character. Alcohol presence is low, Body is about medium, slightly more tea-like than malty, but thoroughly flavored with no wateriness. The jasmine rice may have dropped the body a notch or two while saving the flavor. It stays simple and balanced but forces deep attention to the subtleties of the flavor. Normally there would be a much bigger demand for increased carbonation in regards to the style, but it works very well for the herbal nature of this beer in particular. 4.5

(Overall) The flavors are just faint enough without losing general potency or flavor. A few flavors were a challenge to find, like ginger. Probably for the best, it could have been easily overdone in this lighter-bodied beer. What was in here was perfect for a lighter bodied tea-inspired Orient beer. Stacked amongst most American IPAs, this beer would be much less citrusy and much more herbal but for the theme it is a fitting selection of flavors, and highly enjoyable thus. 3.75

Terrapin Beer Company's
Side Project #18: Samurai Krunkles
3.76/5.00

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2013 22:21:13 | More by Jadjunk

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.48/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22 ounce bottle - $7.99 at Bullock's Wine & Spirits in Marietta, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours a clouded, faded golden-orange body with a small-sized, brief, off-white head. Head dies off rather rapidly, though there remains little slivers of lace on the descent.

Smell: The malts remain modest in aroma, just some pale malted graininess, serving to send up the varied hop notes, some citric citrus fruit rinds, pointed florals, and vague, encompassing earthiness. Light hints of the green tea, rice, and ginger -- I'm surprised I'm noting the green tea as well as I am and also surprised it's far less gingery than anticipated.

Taste: Pale malts, faintly bready and with a bit of cooked sugar for a small amount of short-lived sweetness. Floral, brightly citrusy hops along with the green tea. Very low hint of jasmine rice. Florals, earthiness, citrus, green tea, and a meager sprinkling of ginger swirl around with the hop bitterness until the drying, soft finish with a linger earthy, spicy, bitter quality in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Medium carbonation. Soft mouthfeel.

Overall: An India Pale Ale with some interesting additives. A little ginger goes a long way for me, so I'm glad it remains fairly subtle.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 00:57:11 | More by ChainGangGuy

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

3.1/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a hazy orange-ish to yellow color with an off white head. In the aroma, a light sweet ginger and notes of tea. In the taste, a spice like bite, ginger, and a earthy small tartness. A spice bite and lighter bodied mouthfeel, with a dry ginger like spice aftertaste. Spicy and big ginger, not so much an IPA, more a saison.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2012 18:26:04 | More by OWSLEY069

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Everytime I drink Terrapin beer, I get Terrapin Station stuck in my head, thanks cpinto6 for another one from these guys.

Pours a light fizzy barely head covering that fades fairly quickly to pretty much nothing, no lacing, over very hazy nectar orange color.

Nose has an interesting mix of pickled ginger, spices, and tea. The floral nose starts with some green tea and other green herbs, can't label what herbs but herbal tea like. Next is the ginger, not candied but more like pickled, with a little orange zest and bt of caramel malty sweetness.

Taste starts with a creamy caramel like malt, and light vanilla oak kinda taste, but quickly turns to pickled ginger, and a bit of candied ginger as well. Those again turn to green tea, a strong green tea flavor really comes out, a strong pungent green tea flavor with it's bitterness in all. A light herbal green flavor is there as well, and hint of spicy like flavor from the ginger. Finish is drier but sticky, bitterness kicks in quite a bit, some from ginger and herbs, some from a light herbal grassy hop. Lingering bitter orange rind flavors, light bitter green tea, and little ginger. It's really nasty bitterness on the finish that doesn't play well and drops the drinkability quite a bit.

Mouth is med to lighter bodied, fluffy carbonation.

Overall meh, hard to really find what this beer is trying to do. There's a lot going on but not much that plays well with each other, the ginger is OK but not great, the green tea is nice at first but doesn't continue to play well, the herbs and orange rind bitterness really take a hit and the finish is a not so nice bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2012 20:09:40 | More by jlindros

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

3.9/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle poured into a Sierra Nevada imperial pint.
7.1% ABV, Side project #17

Another thank you must be extended to his greatness, Chaney, for this bottle!

A - Pouring a dirty apricot golden orange color, Samurai Krunkles produces a tall off white head that plasters the pint with chunky to delicate lacing.

S - Samurai Krunkles' unique aroma stems from it's additions of ginger and green tea which compliment the beer's citrus and pine hop notes. Immediately, it's reminiscent of Michael's; potpourri and floral notes with a mix of pine tree branches and dried tea. Mild sweet caramel and pilsner malt follow up with a smooth base.

T - Astringent hop tea bitterness comes through with the green tea additions. This "green" plant characteristic reminds me of making hop tea that's over the top. Luckily Samurai Krunkles has plenty of malt backing adding a hefty dose of caramel sweetness and pale graininess. Ginger's unique spice seems oddly transparent in this IPA's flavor though some white pepper comes in on the back end.

M - Medium bodied and smooth initially, a sharper carbonation bite enters with a trail of spiciness and a bold tea dryness. It's bitterness on the finish isn't surprising, rather a welcome transition from the malt entry.

O - Terrapin's Samurai Krunkles has an exceptionally unique aroma that plays well with hops and complimentary adjunct additions but the flavor doesn't reflect it's uniqueness in quite the same way. The outcome is a cleaver IPA that's worth splitting and discussing as plenty of the characteristics are subject to interpretation and subjectivity.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2012 22:04:10 | More by BeerFMAndy

Ryan011235

Ohio

3.4/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into an Allagash glass on 11/14/12

Thanks to PDXHops

Cloudy tangerine/amber color. Looks like pineapple juice and honey, only maybe darker. The head starts off as loose bubbles, but rises to a two finger billow before collapsing. Lots of lace.

This smells pretty good, actually. Grapefruit, tangerine, orange - standard American hop goodness. The green tea adds a subtle layer that works well in union with the hops. Cracker-like malt. Ginger is faint.

The flavor is unsettled, which is what I expect from Krunkles. The hops are cut down in expressiveness, if not presence, while the green tea keeps a higher profile. Rather floral, though. There is a good bit of malt too, but it's the enjoyable cracker type. Ginger is still a modest addition, adding a dry bent to the finish.

The feel is pretty common as far as IPAs go. I'd be inclined to give this a fair shake as an IPA-lite, as it's easily on the lighter side of medium in terms of body. I'm gonna go ahead and gush about the low carbonation. Dry, gritty finish.

Wow, I just drank a whole bottle of Krunkles.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2012 12:57:16 | More by Ryan011235

BeerLover99

New Jersey

3.88/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: cloudy gold/orange body, trace white head, fine lacing

S: big ginger, green tea, lemon peel/grass

T: ginger, lemon peel, pine, hint of biscuit,
mellow bitter, oily/grassy finish

M: med body, oily/mild sticky mouth

O: Another fascinating gem from Terrapin. Would get again
and also recommend.

FASCINATING, WORTH PICKING UP!

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2012 22:59:06 | More by BeerLover99

billab914

Virginia

3.05/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22oz bottle poured into my Stone nonic pint glass. It poured a hazy, orange amber color with a thin white head to it. Pretty good lacing on the glass as I drank it and nice head retention as well.

The green tea is pretty evident in the aroma and the ginger is not far behind. There is a decent amount of citrusy hops along with some candied orange flavors. It's a little grainy as well. Not a bad aroma, it's very floral but the flavors come together relatively well. It's definitely not my favorite combination of flavors, but it's not bad.

The taste also shows a lot of the green tea flavors to it. It's got more of a herbal bitterness in the finish. Some sweeter, grainy malts are there as well. A little of the ginger lingers into the finish. Again, the flavors all come together relatively well and it wasn't completely dominated by the additions thankfully. I can't say that I loved the flavors, but they were at least interesting.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with carbonation being moderate. Overall it wasn't a terrible beer, but I just didn't think the green tea flavor worked that well in a beer. I liked that the additions seemed pretty well balanced and they didn't completely dominate it, but overall the flavors they added were just decent at best. Overall another interesting experiment, but not one of the better side projects in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 22:35:25 | More by billab914

farrago

New Jersey

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

Gives off a solid finger of just of-white foam, mostly loose smaller bubbles with an island of larger ones at the spot of pour, not much retention and the lacing is wispy and random. Hazy deep yellow to zinc orange hued liquid, very consistently colored throughout, holds light well which lends it a warm glow. The ginger is clearly there in the nose and the green tea also comes through credibly, pine and tangerine too along with biscuit and some powdered malt like Ovaltine, the apricot, peach, pineapple scents tend towards fruit cocktail type concentration. Full-bodied and somewhat slow to change direction, moves like it just woke up from a nap. More dough, bread, yeast stuff going on, at the same time more peppery and herbaceous tang, pine and orange, grapefruit citrus. The cocoa and chocolate more bitter than malty sweet. Here the ginger and green tea subsumed back into the whole, the latter more present as it warms. The carbonation is adequate, nothing remarkable pro or con. Wish it stuck to its guns and really let the green tea through more convincingly. Still, as is it’s curious and familiar at once and not bad by any stretch.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 00:03:01 | More by farrago

cvm4

Mississippi

3.83/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a light amber in color. Nice off white one finger head that leaves little lacing.

S - Citrus hops mixed in with a light amount of ginger and green tea.

T - Smacks you with ginger and then the twang of green tea. It's not overpowering and lets you taste the citrus hops that greet you.

M - On the light side of medium.

O - An interest combination here. It's balanced and one flavor doesn't overpower the next. The beer lets you experience it all.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2012 00:32:19 | More by cvm4

dbrauneis

New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served on tap at Barcade in Jersey City, NJ

A: Pours a hazy light copper in color with some orange highlights when held up to the light. The beer has a quarter finger tall creamy white head that reduces to a thin film covering the entire surface of the beer and a slightly thicker ring at the edges of the glass. Light to moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Strong aromas of green tea and ginger along with some moderate notes of pale malts. There is a light to moderate presence of sweet orange citrus hops and some orange blossom floral notes.

T: Starts out with moderate flavors of pale malts and Belgian yeast (including just a touch of spiciness) followed by slightly lighter notes of green tea, ginger, and sweet orange citrus.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Almost chalky in the finish.

O: Extremely interesting addition of ingredients to an American IPA - the green tea and ginger gives some very enticing aromas and flavors. The ingredients are very complementary and make this beer stand out in the style for me - the only knock is the chalkiness in the mouthfeel.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2012 16:58:38 | More by dbrauneis

metter98

New York

3.93/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On-tap at Barcade, Jersey City, NJ

A: The beer is hazy yellowish orange in color. It poured with a thin white head that died down, leaving patches of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: There are moderately strong aromas of green tea in the nose.
T: Like the smell, the taste has lots of flavors of green tea.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a very unique beer that gives you lots of green tea aromas in a different way—it's like going to Chinatown and eating green tea ice cream. This beer might be a little one dimensional but I really liked it.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2012 12:37:52 | More by metter98

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.03/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

- Ale brewed with ginger and green tea.
A: A honey orange pour is dense in the vessel clarity wise with a frothy-cream oatmeal colored head that showed some some bubbly covering. Light, slow rise of effervesce, decent sticky film lacing.

S: The green tea is dominant, orange blossoms and herbal flowers. No ginger indications, soft overall per style.

T: Green tea leafs, spruce, and some citrus hops. Decent level of hops, spicy and perfumy by nature. Lightly bitter tulip flowers, dry, with a leave of tea tannins and dry oranges. Green tea and washy citurs best sums this up.

M: Frothy, creamy, a bit dry and bitter turning a bit washy on the hold.

O: Overall somewhat hoppy and unique but the flavor just doesnt work for me. Tea tannins a bit much, not bad, just not my cup of tea (pun intended). Krunkles is a klunker, to many varying flavors that don't tie togther. Kinda of like a author during brain storming, a lot of interesting ideas all swirling about but not all of them fit together in the end nicely, becomes a mess flavor wise. A bit unique at first but grows tiresome by the end of a bomber by oneself.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2012 23:06:53 | More by beerthulhu

DaveBlack

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Beer is a cloudy, dark golden color. The head is pure white, maybe 1/2 a finger's width with moderate retention.

S: Very floral and herbaceous. The malts also come through and add a lot of sweetness. I am definitely getting a hint of the jasmine and tea aromas, but I don't know that I would have been able to name them without reading the ingredients. The whole aroma, though good, is buried fairly deep in the glass and one really has to get up in there to smell anything.

T: Sweetness from the malts, and a little toastiness, followed by a lot of hop character. The overall taste is, for me, really muddled. After the malts fade away the hops don't come through clean, but along with hints of green tea and jasmine and lots of alcoholic esters. I find the alcohol just adds to the confusion, and is just overall too strong.

M: Medium body, and a fair amount of carbonation. Slightly sticky.

O: Not a bad beer, but not necessarily a good one. The nose is weak, and the taste is muddled. It is interesting (as I have come to expect from Terrapin) but not all that great (as I have also come to expect).

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2012 21:39:04 | More by DaveBlack

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.33/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy, dark golden orange color with a half finger white foam head that immediately fades into a thin ring. Minimal lacing left behind.

Slightly herbal, floral hop aroma with some grassy pine, sweet malt and a prominent green tea presence. As it warms up the ginger starts to show but the strong malt presence overpowers the hops. Caramel sweetness with toffee, bread and biscuit.

Medium bodied and a bit more complex than the nose suggests with a balance of earthy hops, peppery spice, herbal tea and sweet malts. Dry and bitter with spicy, grassy hops and a resinous pine flavor that's nicely complimented by the zesty ginger. There's also a subtle citrus flavor that nicely rounds out the hop profile before the green tea and malt backbone come through. Some sweet caramel and toffee leading into a slight dry finish. One of the more interesting recent entires in the Side Project Series.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 06:54:16 | More by corby112

MacQ32

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

A - Pours a hazed cross off golden straw and a slightly red copper. Nice finger of near white head with pretty good retention, very nice lacing.

S - Sweet caramel malts, herbal honey/ginger sweetness. Slight citrus-ish hop presence. A little faint.

T - Nice pale ale foundation, hop bitterness totally caught me off guard from a mild aroma. Hops up front with a heavy ginger/spiced flavor. The green tea qualities are minimal at the finish. Pretty much a bitter spiced/herbed gingerslap.

M - Very nice, medium bodied, quite drinkable, appropriate carbonation. Mouthfeel is just perfect.

O - Tasty, I was hoping for more green tea which I'm not really picking up much of at all but a nice potent spiced ginger bitter brew. Very unique so I'm bumping it up a little, not exactly what I expected but its different and its well balanced

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2012 23:08:39 | More by MacQ32

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.05/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

had this one during a tasting held at GBX! Served from growler into a sampler shaker. Poured a pale yellow-orange with a minimal white head. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweeet malt, floral, spice, sugar, rice, and jasmine. The flavor was of sweet malt, fruit, jasmine, floral, subtle sugar, and rice. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a pretty average brew. With that said I have to say that I did not really enjoy the flavor too much on this one at all. The jasmine on this thing was way too strong and left my palate feeling slightly violated after each sip. The rice aspect was there, but it definitely took a backseat. Not sure if this is good or bad, but I'm going to go with bad as it might have cut the jasmine some. I would say this is worth trying at least once, but I certainly hope they let you sample it before ordering a full shaker.

Serving type: growler

09-07-2012 11:22:08 | More by thagr81us

Chaney

District of Columbia

3.78/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Ah yes... another Krunkles beer from Terrapin!

Served in a Schlafly tulip.

A: Poured out a slightly muddy orange color (and on the dark side of that), with a fairly substantial 1/5 finger frothy head that retained its creamy character for quite some time.

S: I didn't read the ingredients until after I smelled it, but overall I got straight up apple juice... and fresh at that! I guess now I can totally get the green tea additive.

T: Sort of like a slightly thinner version of "Midas Touch." Seriously, this was more of a mead than a beer, but I dug that about it. After a few sips, the hop component started to slap the tongue and the ginger component was slight, but effective in this setting. I will say though that I got a pronounced plastic quality the more I sipped.

M: Creamy, not too sweet or spicy, and with a nice fruit bill as well. The carbonation was kinda low, but you really didn't need it to be too high. The lacing was mild and the palate came out fairly clean overall.

O: While not as unusual as the ingredients and the bottle art might dictate, this was a good drinker. Also, for only $7.99, this was a steal!

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2012 19:07:18 | More by Chaney

prototypic

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Samurai Krunkles pours a lighter gold color. It’s clear and looks a bit orange when held to light. A very light, white head covers the top. It rises to about half a finger in height. Retention was very, very short. Disappeared nearly as fast as it arrived. Lacing was very spotty and light.

The nose is pretty good. It’s a bit weak and needs more strength. Up front, it smells rather herbal. I’m definitely getting the green tea and the ginger. It smells a tad sweet and malty. Perhaps a little caramel? It’s not front and center though. Hops are noted and have mostly a floral scent. There’s a bit of a citric hop scent that follows. I’m getting a little grapefruit and pineapple. Alcohol is blended pretty well and doesn’t come through all that strong. Pretty good. Just needs more strength.

The flavor is pretty good, as well. The malt base definitely features a little more caramel malt than I anticipated. It’s sweet. There’s a bit of toasted malt in there, as well. It’s definitely herbal throughout. Green tea and ginger are noted. Hops add a mix of citrus and floral flavors. There’s a bit of grapefruit and pineapple. They’re not all that strong though. Perhaps they’re subdued by the malty and herbal characteristics. Alcohol is there, but isn’t strong. Finishes herbal, sweet, with a toasted flavor. Not bad at all.

Samurai Krunkles has a medium body. Carbonation is light and the bubbles are soft. It feels nice and smooth. It goes down relatively easy. It’d be easier if the flavor were just a tad better. Not bad though.

Terrapin Beer Company did an alright job with Samurai Krunkles. I have no problems with the green tea and ginger, but the malt base seems to be a little too caramel and toasted malt heavy. A little more hops wouldn’t hurt either. Just my humble opinion. Still pretty good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2012 03:13:58 | More by prototypic

tdm168

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - bright golden orange with a thin white head that has decent retention

S - bread, some mint, a little herbal

T - herbal, bready, some mint, faint alcohol

M - medium bodied, smooth, well carbonated

This is a pretty solid beer. The flavor is balanced. There is some mint and hops and some malt that play well together. I enjoyed this and it's quite drinkable. I recommend it.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2012 22:49:58 | More by tdm168

oline73

Maryland

3.73/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I had this on-tap at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh. Served in a snifter.

Appearance: The beer pours a cloudy amber color with a layer of off white head that leaves a ring around the pour.

Smell: Mildly sweet with some citrus notes that remind me of apricots. This beer also had a mild herbal quality.

Taste: More bitterness in the flavor than the smell suggested. Citrus peel hops along with some herbal notes and apricots. The finish is really bitter.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with aggressively tingly carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: I thought the taste in the finish of this beer was a bit weird. Otherwise I enjoyed it.

Serving type: on-tap

08-25-2012 23:26:10 | More by oline73