Unleash The Yeast: American Ale
BrewDog

A 330ml bottle with a BB of Oct 2014, so it's a bit out of date. Purchased a while back from the Brewdog webshop. One of a series of 4 beers showcasing different yeast strains; this one being an American ale yeast.

A: Poured into a cervoise. Bottle conditioned. A rich orange-amber hue with low carbonation and a ton of floating sediment that looks like coagulated protein. Yields a decent head of creamy white foam that lasts for a minute or two before collapsing to a patchy surface layer.

S: Aroma of sweet caramel malt with hints of honey, grain, mild barley sugar, ale yeast, subtle fruity hops and stewed leaves. Quite nice, though the hop character has faded.

T: Tastes of light caramel malt with a dry finish. Notes of grain, subtle barley sugar, ale yeast, mild fruity hops, floral hints, earthiness and stewed leaves. Slightly sweet, followed by a mild, leafy bitterness upon swalowing.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth and dry, with very soft carbonation and decent body. Lightly astringent, accompanied by an aftertaste of stewed leaves/cardboard, mild caramel malt and earthy yeast.

O: OK, but not outstanding - probably a bit too old. Lacklustre looks - too many floaties. The aroma and flavour are alright but a bit run-of-the-mill; grainy malt, ale yeast and faded hop notes. Acceptable body. Decent enough on it's own terms, but needs to be compared with the others for the experiment to be useful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

330ml Bottle as part of the Unleash The Yeast 4-pack (£9.50 for all 4):
Clear amber with a thumb sized, foamy white head on top. Retention isn't too bad with the beer holding well and there is some nice lacing on the side of too.

Tropical fruits and pine upfront, alongside some bitter hops although these aren't as strong as usual for the style. There is some grapefruit and light citrus fruits that add to the bitterness of the beer and it smells quite juicy and refreshing.

Juicy with tropical fruits and some bitter hops that feature some pine and grapefruit straight off the bat. It's not an overly bitter beer but you can taste the hops (and the yeast in this case I guess). There is some apricot and citrus with hints of caramel malts yet there isn't much in the way of sweetness from this one.

Smooth and bitter yet surprisingly refreshing with a wet, juicy taste that goes down easy. The carbonation was about medium, maybe slightly lighter than that and the beer had a nice balance between the tropical fruits and the bitterness.

Finally a good beer in the Unleash The Yeast series and it only took four attempts, I'm just glad I at least saved the best of the four until last. It seems the base beer used for the series was best suited to an American pale ale with the tropical fruits and bitterness really coming through and the balance holding well.

330ml bottle bought from GapWines, Belfast

Poured a golden amber colour with a slight haze... White head poured fairly thick and foamy then faded to decent light covering... light carbonation... good sticky lacing lines cling to the glass...

Aroma - Light sweet toasted maltiness mixed with a good dose of citrusy and peppery hops, pine, tart fruits (grapefruit, lemons, apples), very floral, quite grassy, faint honey sweetness, light breadiness, some sea salt...

Taste - Good grassy and citrus hop bitterness, light pine, tart fruits (grapefruits, apples), light sweet biscuit malts, peppery, some salty notes, floral and perfumed...

Feel - Quite smooth with a little bite underneath... light / medium body. Very, very quaffable and refreshing...

Overall - A excellent, straightforward, hoppy APA... recommended...

 

Amber color with a thin head with low retention.
Nice aroma of American Amber Ale, sweet toasted malts with fruity citric hops.
Delicious hoppy flavor, with notes of passion fruit, papaya and pine tea bags. Hints of spices. Dry and bitter aftertaste.
Light to medium body with appropriate carbonation.
I was surprised of how powerful is this yeast, I thought most was related to American hop abundance. Assuming they have the exactly recipe and constant variables for all the four different yeast batches, the conclusion is amazing.

Nice surprise - expected more of a mild pale ale but this is a really nicely hopped IPA. Grassy to slight pine hops present on nose. Refreshing and bitter flavor - hint of grapefruit citrus. Lively brew with nice pop on the tongue. Easily recommend this brew.