Duck Sauce
Stillwater Artisanal Ales

 

 

 

Modest head production; poor retention. Somewhat hazy, but not a murk bomb. Orange-tinged gold color.

There's not a ton on the nose to reveal all of the additives (nor the namesake condiment). Mild apricot, pineapple, and ginger, but this is definitely still a full bodied IIPA, with hops leading the way, and the fruit complementing.

Delivers on the palate, with hops and fruit up front, ginger really taking over the middle and riding through to the finish. Flavors of tangerine, apricot, plum, peach, ginger, and honey.

Impressively crisp and lively, especially for such a high ABV IPA.

allow me to wax nostalgic for a second... i remember when these guys were the modest saison maker with the seemingly hand printed and uncolored cardboard four packs turning heads with unique flavors and high quality and some respect for tradition, it was a welcome bit of innovation in an under explored space in american craft at the time, and i loved them from day one for it. fast forward to this thing, whatever the hell it is, and you just sort of throw away another wrapped pint can of trend chasing adjunct beer with ipa in the name for no reason other than sales, it fits with buffalo wing sauce beer, a beer stillwater also made in the same family with msg in the recipe, and the sorts of things that sell a single can and not a pack of beer, because nobody wants more than a splash of something like this. a shame for stillwater, but the fact that this actually tastes nice is almost superfluous to the fact that i wish it was never made, if that makes any sense at all. nothing ipa about it, a tea-like flavor, more orange than anything else, maybe generic sweetness from the plum and pineapple, but i defy anyone to taste this and call out those fruits, ginger is present though, fresh and real and mostly in the finish, honey sweetness from this beer having more light crystal malt than it needs, and some weirdly flattering oxidation in it (which tells me its not really an ipa, at least in any recognizable form), which almost shows a brett note late, weird, perhaps a burgeoning infection that works, i dont know, this is a weird beer, complex in a somewhat compelling way, but do i want a beer that does justice to duck sauce? not really. no, not at all. not ever. yet here we are. redeemable as a novelty for sure, its good, and hopefully this will one day be remembered as a signpost of how weird craft got in 2020, when everything else got weird too, but my deeper concern is that this is mandated by people that think they are at the cutting edge of craft and need this sort of thing to keep beer interesting, please let this not be a future direction of stillwater, any brewery, or craft in general, please! for every one they do like this, they still do a whole mess of great ones, but they are getting close to the line lately...

Pours a dark gold with a quickly receding head. A little lacing on the surface. Smell is big tropical fruit hops. Pineapple. Taste has an assertive bitterness upfront that lasts through the finish. If you read the can, you'll find there's some interesting ingredients here: apricot, plum, pineapple, ginger and candi syrup. And the beer has a complex taste if you're looking for it. But none of this is clearly distinguishable. Instead, it tastes like a good Double IPA. It doesn't taste like duck sauce, and that's likely a good thing. Boozy.

 

Poured into a 16 oz tulip style glass, no idea when it was canned, a very silly mark on the bottom of the can that means nothing. Maybe the 32 week of 2020? Pours a slightly cloudy orange yellow with a 1 finger sticky white head that leaves some thin streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4

Smell mandarin, mango, pineapple, and apricot. 4

Taste follows mandarin, pineapple, mango, and apricot. 4

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, maybe a little dry, plenty of life, and 9% it goes down rather easy. 4.25

Overall this is a unique and tasty beer. Not sure I would purchase again, but will have no trouble finishing the 4 pack. 4

 

Bright orange pour, that quite honestly looks like duck sauce. Flavors of pineapple and apricot come through right away in the smell and initial taste. Very sweet ale, and easy drinking enough to mask its ABV. Finish is easy enough, though the sugary flavor would make this a one and done type of beer.

 

Can to tulip.
The appearance was a mellow orange copper color with a subtle transparency about it. Filmy foamy lace slid around the glass after a small foamy head fell off.
The aroma had the plum and apricot in front, somewhat jammy-like with small influences of pineapple and even a lighter dose of ginger spice. Some biscuity malts roam in underneath.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet side taking all of those fruits to envelop them together with a small glance of ginger spice. Slick aftertaste of sweet plum and apricot.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Good carbonation. Some stickiness but not too much. Ginger seems extremely faint.
Overall, pretty good DIPA I'd have again.

 

Poured from a tall can. Yellow orange in color with a small head that dissolves quickly. Also has a lot of floating particles that I don't find that appealing. Aroma includes apricot, tangerine, and orange. Taste follows the smell, avb is hidden well in this bright citrusy brew. The feel is not bad considering all the floating particles.

 

 

8/19/19 can @ home

From the bottom of the can: "BBE08JUL21 21:17"

Appearance: It is a hazy gold color without any head. There are massive chunks of sediment in the beer. It looks pretty awful.

Aroma: There is a bit of pine aroma and some wet cardboard.

Taste: It tastes like pine and a bit of lemon. There is a tannin flavor which is pretty strong, like over-brewed tea.

Mouthfeel: The beer is very dry. It is difficult to drink because the chunks get stuck to the lips and teeth.

Overall: I don't recommend it. It was not an enjoyable drinking experience. The chunks were about the size of a grain of rice so it made drinking the beer very difficult. The strong tannin-like flavors mixed with the extreme dryness of the beer made it difficult to palate as well.

16 oz. Can
BBE: 08JUL21

Poured into a Tree House glass a pretty nice cloudy yellow/orange color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy one-finger plus off-white head, which also leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, pineapple, apricot, peach, plum), slight giner, nice little diesel like. The taste is pretty nice hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, pineapple, apricot, peack, plum), slight giner, nice little diesel like. Medium body, ABV hidden very nicely, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a pretty tasty brew. Orange Julius! Addictive! MilkShake! Nice to see it around here.