Welcome

If you're new here, read this!

 Hello!  Thanks for visiting my blog. Here you'll find a ton of stuff - over 460 articles...everything from beer reviews, interviews, wi...

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Kent Falls Brewing Co. - "Coffeemaker" pale ale

OK, here's an unusual beer I had a while back - a coffee pale ale from Kent Falls Brewing Co. Brewed with wheat and Kent Falls house Brettanomyces yeast, this 5.60% ABV beer also includes a dry-hopped Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee from Sacred Grounds coffee shop in Sherman, CT.


According to Kent Falls' website, the idea is to focus on the flavors of hops independent of bitterness. Naturally, most beer drinkers associate more hops with a more bitter profile; this of course isn't always true and Kent Falls has sought to highlight this. This is batch #5, with the previous four batches made with coffee from Irving Farm Coffee Roasters in Millerton, NY.

It pours a hazy, dull yellow - unusual for a coffee beer. Interestingly, it's very dry, presenting some some juicy flavors, but mostly crisp - like pear and green apple. It even has some notes that remind me of a very crisp saison. I'm also detecting a bit of funk, which is of course that Brett yeast coming through. Overall a light and crisp pale ale, and refreshing. Only one pressing question:

Where's the coffee? 

I don't detect a single note of coffee throughout the entire thing. I gave some to my brother and mother - same story. I understand that the point is not for the beer to present typical hop flavors, but I would have liked at least a little hint of the winey, earthy flavors present in Ethiopian coffee. But no such luck. I think in terms of depth of flavor, this is on-par with the "Lade Øl", the other Kent Falls beer I tried a few years ago. Light, soft, and generally timid. I appreciate the craft, and these kind of soft beers can be good but personally I'll need a little more flavor to really capture my attention. If you like your saisons on the dry side and don't mind not having any coffee in them, then give this a go. If you're looking for something with stronger flavor, perhaps look elsewhere.



No comments:

Post a Comment