Review: Pipeworks Brewing Cash 4 Golden Ale

Brewery:  Pipeworks Brewing Company

Locale:  Chicago, IL

Craft Circa:  2012

Style:  Belgian Style Ale

ABV:  10%

Notables:  Batch 19

OK, back to earth Pipeworks.  We’ve been thoroughly impressed with each brew thus far, and although this beer represents another unique collaboration, this bullet misfired.  OK, maybe it grazed us…

Label:  Nice.  Clever and something so cheesy, it’s retro cool.  It’s a trendy name given the state of the economy in recent years and the relentless bombardment of jewelry stores, pawn shops, and etc. advertising “cash for your gold.”  Ironically, microbreweries have been the exception in this downturn.  With this beer, you get the sense you just got a steal from “beer hour” on the home shopping network.  It’s an artisan from Pipeworks, so good chance it is a steal. 

A batch number is hand written on the label, which you can research and discover when that batch was bottled according to their website.  As usual, nice touch. 

Overall:   The aroma was powerful, and simply marvelous.  I cannot express this enough.  The smell was enchanting, almost as if a Belgian Ferry whisked me away to a land of craft beer lollipops, and hop drops.   The head was a fluffy white, probably as fluffy as the clouds in my imaginary beer land.  These beers get a wonderful score for appearance and smell alone.  The presentation was done so beautifully, I was eager to drink up. 

SWEET!  Not in a figurative way, but in a literal sense.  It’s almost as if this beer is loaded with saccharine, and does not let up.  It tastes as though one of the brewers dumped packets of fun dip in the vat before fermentation.  It is reasonably flavorful but the sweetness is relentless.  Any “golden” aspects are hard to come by. 

This is a bottle you may want to consider sharing with someone.  A fifth of this stuff is quite hard to consume yourself due to the sweet persistence, and maybe that was Pipeworks’ intentions. 

It’s very smooth, but almost too smooth for the amount of sweet this brew encompasses.  This brew would have been a little better with either more bittering hops, or something with bite to balance out the ale a little more.  The beer goes down extremely well, especially for a beer that clocks in at 10%.  Its sugary stamina comes from whatever mix Pipeworks used for their strain of Belgian yeast in that it simply overpowered the beer, and did not allow the malt and hop flavors to contribute to the mix. 

Maybe tone down the sweetness a bit Pipeworks, you are in Chicago, and there is only one ‘Sweetness’ in these parts.

…In my opinion, the greatest nickname in all of sports. 

Acquisition:  A Fifth - $12

~gY

Review: Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA

Brewery:  Flying Dog Brewery

Locale:  Frederick, MD (Originally Aspen, Colorado as a brewpub)

Craft Circa:  1990

Style:  Farmhouse / Saison IPA

ABV:  7.5%

IBUs:  75

Notables:  Year-round IPA

Label:  Typical Flying Dog fashion.  Their artwork is unique and vows to get noticed in a world full of craft brews itching to get noticed.  You can associate these splattered Picaso style etchings with just about every Flying Dog Brew.

Overall:   In craft beer years, Flying Dog has been around the block.  They generally produce standard quality brews that are available year around.  This brew seems to be a little more out of their element of pale ales and lagers.  Farmhouse ales are another term for a Belgian style of ale.  Per wiki, it’s a brew that is distinguished by culture and craftsmanship in the Belgian tradition.  Saison yeast - Saison (French, "season") is the name originally given to low-alcohol pale ales brewed seasonally in farmhouses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. Modern-day Saisons, particularly those brewed in the USA, and are generally bottle conditioned with an average range of 5 to 8% abv.

With that said, this beer has also been labeled by some as a Belgian IPA.  I disagree with that, and it cannot be true.  It’s not good enough to be associated with that class of criminals (the BIPA - - Injustice League).  The brew is way too sweet.  I would not consider this a BIPA, but rather a tart variation of it.  The wallop of citrus and sweetness overpowers any of the malt and hops.  The taste buds are ruined after the initial sip and it skews any judgment your taste buds may subsequently have. 

I like all shapes and sizes of IPAs, love to get my hand on any variation of one, but this one just does not do it for me.  This one merely grazes my palate the wrong way. 

Acquisition:  6 pack - $10

Notes:  The BIPA Injustice League established July 26, 2012.  The organization was created for the hardcore criminals with the malicious intent of taking over your palate, knocking you out with hops and flavor, with a reckoning appetite for destruction, and stealing you blind... burning through your wallet as you increasingly want more.

BIPA Injustice League Members:

Pipeworks Glaucus – Founding Member:

~gY

Review: Wild Onion Summer Wit

Brewery:  Wild Onion Brewing Co.
Locale:  Barrington, IL (Chicagoland)

Craft Circa:  1996

Style:  Belgian White

ABV:  4.2%

IBUs:  13

Label:  Misleading.  The can could easily be mistaken for an Orange Faygo in the fridge. 

Overall:   Wanted to go with the Hop Slayer, which is another Wild Onion Brew.  That brew jumped out at me because I prefer the hops, but I will save that for when the weather drops a little.  Due to the unpleasantness that this summer has provided thus far, I went with the summer seasonal. Per Wild Onion, their warm weather seasonal is perfect for enjoying the long-awaited days of spring and summer. This Belgian-style White Ale is traditionally brewed with a large dose of wheat malt and a splash of coriander and orange peel.

There WAS orange right off the bat, a little sour mash to an extent as well.  Although the initial tang was immediate, it was one dimensional and ran off like a thief in the night.  The tip of the tongue enjoyed it.  The rest of the mouth didn’t know it was there.  The brew dissipates on the palate.  It’s nowhere to be found after the initial taste.  An optical illusion of what seems to be a refreshing summer beer. 

I’ll pass.

Acquisition:  4 pack of Cans - $9

Tidbits:  Speaking of oranges, no words in the English language rhyme with orange.  Same goes for silver and purple.

~gY

Review: Pipeworks Brewing Company Glaucus

Brewery:  Pipeworks Brewing Company

Locale:  Chicago, IL

Craft Circa:  2012

Style:  Belgian IPA

ABV:  8%

BIPA Injustice League - Founding Member

Label:  Love it.  Shout out to a local artist, always a homerun.  The bottle art is by Emily Cunningham.  The creature depicted is a Glaucus, which is basically Ariel if she was a dude.  A batch number is hand written on the label, which you can research and discover when that batch was bottled according to their website.  That shows confidence that they feel they will be selling these fast. 

Overall:   For every Belgian Style IPA I’ve had, I’ve probably had 100 American IPAs to counter it.  I have not had too many Belgian IPAs yet in my day, but I hope to surmount all of them at some point.    I have not had a bad one so far.  This beer is right up with the others.  Quality brew.  Full flavored, very delicious.  This BIPA packs a nice array of spices from start to finish.  It generates excitement for the Chicagoland area, that yet another quality brew maker may be on the horizon.

This style of beer is solid in that it encompasses both IPA and Belgian beer lovers with this collaboration of flavor and hops.  It’s a hybrid beer in essence, between an American IPA with a Belgian Tripel.  On top of that, this appears to be a very trendy style of beer, with more and more pour houses and breweries offering at least one.  We are just at the tip of the iceberg for BIPAs. 

Praise and rejoice.

Acquisition:  22 oz. - $9

~gY