Terrapin Samurai Krunkles - Terrapin Beer Company

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

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

05-20-2013 23:50:33 | More by mikeincharleston

ajtorres311

Florida

4/5  rDev +7.8%

05-01-2013 15:20:37 | More by ajtorres311

CrazyEasyBartender

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

04-25-2013 05:30:10 | More by CrazyEasyBartender

JoeBlevins

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%

04-14-2013 17:11:50 | More by JoeBlevins

Bamarooster

Virginia

4/5  rDev +7.8%

04-11-2013 22:14:50 | More by Bamarooster

irish01980

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%

04-04-2013 20:09:02 | More by irish01980

OriolesFan1008

Maryland

2/5  rDev -46.1%

03-24-2013 03:12:06 | More by OriolesFan1008

Lare453

Florida

4/5  rDev +7.8%

03-22-2013 12:59:14 | More by Lare453

Boone757

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%

03-21-2013 19:39:30 | More by Boone757

dokupe

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

03-18-2013 00:06:01 | More by dokupe

michaeljstraub

Georgia

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

03-15-2013 11:35:45 | More by michaeljstraub

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +7.8%

03-12-2013 01:15:01 | More by DaPan

orangesol

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%

03-07-2013 20:35:51 | More by orangesol

Dooleymon

Alabama

4.25/5  rDev +14.6%

03-04-2013 01:15:40 | More by Dooleymon

kangarooAdam59

Maine

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

Damian74Shensky

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +7.8%

02-24-2013 22:11:35 | More by Damian74Shensky

TheNightwatchman

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

02-18-2013 13:37:51 | More by TheNightwatchman

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

57md

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

02-15-2013 23:03:23 | More by 57md

beernads

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

02-08-2013 10:37:55 | More by beernads

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

nikbullet

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%

02-03-2013 17:32:33 | More by nikbullet