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Patriot
Croucher Brewing Co.

PatriotPatriot
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Croucher Brewing Co.
 
New Zealand
Style:
Black IPA
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
89
Avg:
3.99 | pDev: 6.52%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
17
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 19, 2014
Added:
May 20, 2011
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
This is an American Black Ale (the style is also known as Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale), and is a highly hopped black beer.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by lacqueredmouse:
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.95/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Had on-tap at the Local Taphouse for the Kiwi SpecTapular. I was looking forward to this one parhaps overly much, and I had very high expectations for it, given how much I love Croucher's other brews.

Pours a deep brown-black, opaque in the centre, but quite light on the edges. Lacing is extremely good, giving a webbed appearance down the glass. Looks good.

Nose, is very hoppy, giving a very nice American IPA character—bright orange citrus with some grainy sweetness and a touch of stewed plums to give it depth. Nice.

Taste is also clean and bright. Apart from the colour, it actually ends up being a very sharp and drinkable IPA. Crisp finish, with just a lingering hint of roasted bitterness. Mild mid-palate, meaning a lot of the complexity gets dropped before the finish, but it's a drinkable brew.

It's lively, flavoursome and tasty enough. I have to say, it missed meeting my expectations, but I also should say that my expectations were unreasonably high.
Jun 18, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by Stoutmeister from Massachusetts

Oct 19, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Corson from Canada (AB)

Aug 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kmat10 from Canada (AB)

Feb 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Ducky

Feb 26, 2013
Photo of joecast
Reviewed by joecast from Australia

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Ah, one of my favorite styles. Been right into brown ales since they came back with more hops. Also(generally) NZ brewer + US hoppy beer style = Good!

A few shades lighter than black and clear enough to see hints of light through the glass. Head is thin but leaves a nice layer of white foam and some lacing.

Has that nice, and now familiar, mix of citrus and dark roasted malt. Good contribution from both with some sweet and floral notes as well.

Was surprised when I saw the abv at 5.5%. Thought it was higher for some reason. Anyway, as it warms its growing on me more and more. The body mellows out a bit and allows the dark grains to meld with the hops. Nice even bitterness throughout with a bit of a kick in the finish. Light sweetness and hop flavor sit right where they need to be and finish clean as the bitterness ramps up.

Glad this is a 500ml bottle. Sort of sits on the border between brown and black ale but its a damn good example of either. So there.
Jan 13, 2013
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

4.13/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
500ml bottle poured into pint glass 12/10/12

A dark cola with a thumbs width of mocha lace that quickly falls to a thick film and then sits leaving several distinct rings of lace, looks pretty solid

S coco and cold coffee with some pine, grapefruit and pineapple not overly strong but about right for the style

T the roast is darker with some char and the hops could be stronger but still have a good presence, tropical notes always in a dark beer always catches me off guard but it works well

M medium bodied with prickly bubbles and a bitter snap with just a little grit on the gums, some Terry's Chocolate Orange on the finish with some pine

O 4.25 anyone? really though I could bump this up in pretty much every area, not overly strong but a nice mix of the dark stuff and the green, considering its fairly low alc% I think they did a great job

pretty decent example of a BIPA at a strength you could session, sort of. I think they could jack up the hops even more but that's just the hop junkie in me as this ones pretty hoppy already. There's some balance and I suppose most folks enjoy that, I'd drink another either way
Oct 13, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by hopspiller from Canada (AB)

Oct 09, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by schopenhauerale from Arizona

Oct 06, 2012
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.63/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
500ml bottle, another primo selection for a short, Labour Day GP excursion.

This beer pours a very dark cola colour, with two fingers of thinly foamy beige head, which renders a low skyline mountain vista of lace as it evenly abates.

It smells of roasted, somewhat sour, grainy caramel malt, aged fruit cocktail, and leafy, piney hops. The taste is more lightly toasted, bready caramel malt, kind of astringently bitter citrus rind and pithy pine branch hops, with a further generic orchard fruitiness floating here and yon.

The bubbles are softly on the down low, the body a so-so medium weight, and a tad scratchy in its attempt at smoothness. It finishes off-dry, the muddled IPA hoppiness still strong, but kind of singed, and the meaty caramel sweetness holding up the other side of the equation with a persistent elan.

An agreeable enough ABA (down, all you lawyer types, this is new term), even if the hops are squished a bit by the roasted character of the malt. Worth a try, even if just for the weirdly familiar, but foreign-wrought 'USA USA USA' bravado of the packaging and marketing schtick.
Sep 04, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by serapheus from Australia

Jun 15, 2012
Photo of drpimento
Reviewed by drpimento from Wisconsin

4.05/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
A little hard to find; down a back street, but in a central downtown location. Super helpfull friendly staff. Cask conditioned ale. Lots of local micros of quality and good imports. Full service bar. Nice Ambiance; very comfortable, cozy. Food menu, including a great appetizer list, looks tasty. Prices are fair for the area. Good music in the background. Beer bottle chandeliers. Sports on flat screen tv.
Feb 04, 2012
Photo of CrazyDavros
Reviewed by CrazyDavros from Australia

4.1/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
Pours black with ruby highlights and a large, lasting head.
Nose shows masses of hops, lots of fruit in there. Apples, peaches, passion fruit and pine. Underneath is softer roasted malt. Very nice!
The roasted malt is much more prominent as a flavour. The hops carry through too, with more fruity and honey notes followed by an aggressive piney and roasty bitterness.
Great moderately high carbonation, works perfectly!
Jan 16, 2012
Photo of spicelab
Reviewed by spicelab from Australia

4.1/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
500ml bottle thanks to Chris@Slowbeer

Dark chocolate with a two-finger moderately dense tan head. Retention is great, leaving a nicely raised ring and some lace trails.

Impressive US hop presence, led by pine branch, pineapple and orange. Coffee roast character is subdued, and outdone by a good amount of savoury bready malts.

Similar flavours, led by a pine and tangy malt backbone, with additional fruit salady notes. Very balanced and very nice.

Moderately creamy and even across the palate, with a pleasant tingly sensation. Bitterness flies under the radar but is there.

An able demonstration of how the restrained use of roasted malts can bring what would already be a very nice APA to another level. Drinkable as.
Aug 27, 2011
Photo of ADZA
Reviewed by ADZA from Australia

4.03/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a Kola beer hue with decent carbonation that leaves behind a two finger head and heaps of lacing,the smell is basically sweet toffee and piney hops,it has a light-medium bodied mouthfeel that has tastes of dark malts,very bitter black coffee,ripe white fruits and finished with an ever present piney hoppy bitterness and definately a nice,classy sessionable drop that i could drink all night given its ABV cheers.
Jun 18, 2011
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

3.98/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours a murky dark colour with flashes of red up to the light. Head is pale yellow, nice and dense but sinking slowly, leaving some persistent lace that just won't go away. Looks are cranking here.

Ooh yeah, that's an IBA smell. Lots of hops, floral and flighty with fresh grass, pineapple and citrus on there. Touch of cantaloupe as well, especially where the roastiness comes up and infuses it with a grounded sweetness. Toasty, hoppy, very pleasant.

Taste is also pleasant, with nice dark malts upfront, lots of cocoa and some oaky notes as well. Hops come through midway, slightly resinous with sap and wood notes, but they do lift the palate a bit with some light spicy touches of lemongrass, pepperberry and licorice. It's growing on me, but I would have liked more fresh hop oomph, especially on the finish. Still a good palate.

Fairly full body, but with a lot of dharp hop drying at the back. Bit too crisp, to be fair.

Yeah, a good IBA, but it doesn't really sell the style as well as some others I've had.
Jun 03, 2011
Photo of brendan13
Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

4.65/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A - Pours pretty much black with an inch of tan head that hangs around for a fair while.
S - Smell is certainly dominated by hops. Wonderful piney, passionfruit, tropical notes.
T - Like the smell the taste is all about the hops. Again, tropical fruit & pine flavours are up front with only a touch of chocolate and a hint of roast coming through from the darker malts used.
M - Medium bodied, medium carbonation, quite aggresive bitterness but never too hardcore.
O - An excellent example of an American Black Ale.
May 20, 2011
Patriot from Croucher Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 17 ratings