Ape Snake
Prairie Artisan Ales

Ape SnakeApe Snake
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From:
Prairie Artisan Ales
 
Oklahoma, United States
Style:
Saison
ABV:
7.9%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 11.38%
Reviews:
49
Ratings:
210
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 16, 2023
Added:
Jan 17, 2016
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  53
Ape Snake is a dark, dry hopped farmhouse ale. We’ve taken our dark farmhouse base and dry hopped it with Falconer’s Flight and Centennial hops. The combination of yeast and hops create an explosion of flavors, and this beer will continue to develop as it ages.
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Ratings by kell50:
Photo of kell50
Rated by kell50 from North Carolina

3.96/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Feb 02, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of JacobusFavier23
Reviewed by JacobusFavier23 from Texas

3.96/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
L-Pours about a one finger head with a murky deeply dark body. Lightly carbonated from the view.
S- Hay/barn-like grassiness, funky brettanomyces, sweet honey, maybe some vanilla, raison and roasted malt. Slight peaty roasted aroma. Interestingly earthy towards the end.
T-Sweet, bitter and funky. Stonefruit up front, bready throughout. Some raison and molasses as well. Brettanomyces funk there as well. The most interesting thing I pick up is a slight bonfire/peaty roasted-ness that you would get from an Islay Scotch. It's faint. But it is there.
F-Lower carbonation, medium bodied mouthfeel, drying towards the end as expected.
O-Not your typical saison. Dark, bitter and toasty with a rewarding funkiness. I truthfully didn't expect to get the beer I had here. And I don't understand the hate.. It's pretty darn original, and in no way off-putting. It's weird, but my kind of weird, I guess. I would personally give it a try.
Jan 16, 2023
Photo of Beginner2
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.78/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Well... I am really late to the party on this ale, two years since its last review. And I don't recall having a saison that was three years old, and now I'm drinking and enjoying one that is six years old. Plus... of my 328 unique saisons, less than a handful were as dark as Ape Snake. Finally, this pushes me over 10% saisons for all my beers reviewed on BA. Definitely unchartered territory. To make it even more unusual, the label says Shelton Brothers, the erstwhile importer of Belgians that we owe so much to, also distributed Ape Snake. (But alas, the Bros were chased from this world by rigid laws almost two years ago.)

Despite this copy's age and having seen better days, Ape Snake still is an interesting saison that thinks outside of the box. To me, it seems like a hybrid. My two favorite reviewers didn't hint at this, so I think I should: Ape Snake is a cross between an AIS and a saison. This certainly Looks like an American Imperial Stout: opaque and a big billowy head with big bubbles that fade quickly. Smells are malty like an AIS and really not much fruit like the saison. In the early and mid-palate, I get some saison fruit... but by the finish, this is a dry stout. I've only had one Prairie AIS, so I won't make any brash statements; but there is an AIS love-child in this bottle. Cheers !
Jan 31, 2022
 
Rated: 3.75 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Apr 10, 2020
Photo of beersampler6
Reviewed by beersampler6 from Michigan

3.48/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
This one was quite interesting. Definitely much stronger and funkier than I was used to. No date printed on bottle. Pours a very nice looking darker muddy brown color, fairly opaque, with some off-white fluffy head that settled and some scant spotty lingering lacing. Smells very strong - lots of musty barnyard smells, yeast, clove, grassiness, biscuit, maybe some faint herbal hops. Definitely powerful. Tastes similarly, actually surprisingly more muted and when paired with savory food it mellowed out. Still had those musty barnyard, grassy, hay-like notes though. Hard to describe. Mild mouthfeel, fairly clean aftertaste, good carbonation. Always tougher for me to judge because this isn't my go-to style but while the smells were a little overpowering everything else balanced fairly well.
Apr 04, 2020
 
Rated: 2.02 by MTKATL from Georgia

Jul 15, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by heerboth from Pennsylvania

Aug 21, 2018
 
Rated: 3.64 by Claytonham34 from Texas

Aug 17, 2018
Photo of OompaMentor
Rated by OompaMentor from Georgia

2.5/5  rDev -33.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Funk nasty; Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival - Atl 3/3/2018
Mar 22, 2018
Photo of Thomas_Wikman
Reviewed by Thomas_Wikman from Texas

3.53/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Just had Ape Snake from Prairie Artisan Ales. It is a different and interesting Farmhouse Ale but perhaps not my first

choice. Watch out when you open. It is a gusher.

Look: Dark brown very thick and fluffy mocca colored head

Aroma: citrus and some brett funk

Taste: There's some biscuit and maybe roasted malts, some brett funk, citrus, lemon, grapefruit, and piney hops.

Feel: medium body, significant carbonation, a bit foamy, a bit heavy for a Farmhouse Ale
Jan 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.79 by SiepJones from Pennsylvania

Jan 01, 2018
Photo of MinerBob
Reviewed by MinerBob from Oklahoma

2.73/5  rDev -27.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75
One of the worst offerings from Prairie. Beer pours a nice black with a tan head the look is by far the best part of this beer. The smell is hoppy and strong. The flavor is horribly hoppy not sure why they just don't call it an IPA. Overall ugh!
Dec 02, 2017
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.8/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 16.9 oz. bottle into a Cycle Brewery tulip glass.

A: Dark brown, just barely translucent, with a big two-finger tan head that lasts for a good while. A good amount of visible carbonation as well.

S: Musty barnyard, Brettanomyces dryness and mild funk. Lemony citric acid and resinous hops. Some roasted malts as well. Pretty nice and quite complex.

T: Dry Brett barnyard and musty, then a kick of lemon and grapefruit citrus rind. Toasted bready malt flavors through the middle, before more citrus and grassy hops. On the exhale, there is still a big hit of funky Brett dry barnyard and milder lemon.

M: The body seems a bit heavier than average for a saison. Good carbonation sensation, and low alcohol presence.

O: This is a complex beer…though I’m not sure it's entirely complimentary to all of the components. It seems more like a room of people screaming for attention at once. The Brett strain used was quite musty and horseblankety rather than any fruity pineapple at all. I’m a little torn on how to rate this - good, but just not my favorite.
Oct 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.07 by Ltdsaint from North Carolina

Oct 01, 2017
Photo of breakingbland
Reviewed by breakingbland from Michigan

3.98/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Poured from a bottle into a tulip. The beer is an opaque brown with a fairly persistent light brown head. The taste is very deep and rich with a strong component of tobacco and less distinct leather (but no funk) and dried fruit, plus other components that I couldn't name. Although the hops flavors are subdued, there is an astringency in the tobacco that was a bit troubling at first. Overall, this is an interesting beer because of its deep richness. I'd probably get it again.
Aug 22, 2017
Photo of Franziskaner
Reviewed by Franziskaner from Missouri

3.83/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Black in color with no penetration to light. There's a massively dense half inch brown head on top. The aroma is full of dark malt, figs, plums, and Brettanomyces. I'm tasting tart Brettanomyces, dark malt, spruce, figs, and plums.
May 28, 2017
Photo of Country_Robot
Reviewed by Country_Robot from Georgia

4.36/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Put simply, tastes of wrung-out Ace bandage from a horse's leg after the derby...in the best way! I will be re-buying this beer tomorrow to keep "in stock"
May 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.98 by alcohline_trip from Pennsylvania

Feb 24, 2017
Photo of Jadjunk
Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia

3.59/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
No label information. Ape Snake is brewed in the style of a Dark Farmhouse Ale, dry hopped. Available in 500ml. bottles and on limited draft.

Poured from a 500ml. bottle to a tulip glass.

(Appearance) Pours a big, crisp frothy head of a pale brown body over a very dark brown, near black body. Retention is above average and there is no visible lacing. 3.5

(Smell) Spicy, peppery nose of saison yeast is accented with a gentle hoppy nose of citrus pith and lemon zest. Malt profile of bread malts, soft caramel biscuit and pale malt is aromatically simple alongside the saison yeast nose and dry hop aromas. Potency is moderate. 3.75

(Taste) Malt flavors of toasted bread, caramel and gentle roasted chocolate malts generate a noticeable difference over a standard saison, while the saison yeast generates light spicy effervescence but less citrusy brightness than in the aroma, for a more even balance. Finishes slightly roasty and soapy. 3.5

(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, medium creamy, smooth, lightly chewy, medium dry. Carbonation is moderate, generating a medium frothiness and a medium crisp finish. Body is medium + for the saison style, medium overall. Balance is nearly even sweet and hoppy bitter to spicy and earthy presence. Alcohol presence is light and there are no off characters. 3.75

(Overall) A decent-flavored Dark Saison with nice balance and enjoyable malt character, but as is common in dark saison ales, I find the yeast profile and malt profile clash and overshadow each other, resulting in an easy drinking and nicely balanced saison beer, but nothing overly memorable nor enjoyably flavored. This is a Prairie beer that I'd skip next time around in favor of other options. 3.5

Prairie Artisan Ales'
Ape Snake
3.59/5.00
Feb 19, 2017
 
Rated: 2.75 by kvgomps from New Jersey

Feb 16, 2017
Ape Snake from Prairie Artisan Ales
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 210 ratings