13
Crystal Springs Brewing Company

Clear, medium-brown body; light carbonation; thick and frothy head; splotchy patches of foam cling to the glass. Malty and roasted grain scent; a little brown sugar; roasted nuts; vanilla. Beautiful roasted grain and toffee-like sweetness to the taste; medium-level hop bitterness; caramel; some dark fruit-like esters lurking in the depths. Medium-heavy body; a bit thick and oily; nice residual sugar presence; primarily sweet but with a touch of dryness to level things out.

This is a fine beer discovery, and a perfect fall beer. It brings some outstanding malted roastiness to the taste buds, has just the right amount of sugary sweetness, and an exceptional counterpoint level of hop bitterness. Definitely a quality beer...

 

 

 

 

Great IPA that features Nelson Sauvin hops. Nice mouthfeel medium body. I get grapefruit and mango on nose. Very drinkable. This not your typical IPA.

APPEARANCE: The pour is a straw colored, hazy yellow, maybe a little darker than straw, but still on the yellow side of orange. The head is stark white and very frothy. With a somewhat gentle pour, the beer ends up with about a half inch of head on it. I’ve been watching it while writing this blurb and it hasn’t really moved. We’re approaching the one-minute mark and it seems to be going nowhere. In fact, it is not until I take the first sip that it subsides a bit. The lacing is a little patchy, but covers a good 50% of the back of the glass in disconnected layers. Also, half way through the glass there is still a 1/4 inch of head that refuses to leave; awesome.

SMELL: Fresh squeezed grapefruit with some hints or slightly spicy, earthy hop aromas. This smells so good. Some tropical fruit notes dance in and out and the Sauvignon part of the Nelson hops comes through nicely as well.

TASTE: The citrus is more lemon zest than grapefruit on the palate, so it is nice and bitter. Some grapefruit notes still blend in as well. Grapes, melon and some tropical fruit also dance around, with just a slight hint of pine. Bitter for sure, but very well balanced.

MOUTHFEEL: Medium bodied, the 13 starts off with a slightly sweet punch followed by a nice, long, slow, bitter, drying finish. The sparkle is enough to cleanse the palate, but not enough to become distracting. The dry finish leaves the palate thirsty after every sip.

OVERALL: There are some great IPAs that are routinely brewed in this state, but there only a handful truly stand apart from the field and this is one of them. If it tastes like this every time it deserves to be in the conversation with Odell, Comrade, Ska, and Station 26.

 

 

 

 

Can. No age. Meh. Kinda smells like vegetables. Not necessarily in a DMS sense. Just weird. Bitter. Pretty average.

So when I met my wife 20ish years ago she drank Miller Light on ice - very nearly a deal breaker. In a last ditch effort to save the relationship I introduced her to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. She dug it and it became her go to beer until we move to CO 8 years ago and I introduced her to Dales, thus take her up the beer ladder another notch. Why the long background story you ask? Crystal Springs 13 is now her favorite Beer. I happen to really enjoy it as well - especially now that it can be found on the shelf in 16 oz 4 packs. Gonna sum it up by saying that the flavor profile is skewed a bit to the citrusy side of things in a very pleasant manner. Check it out if in CO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: pours gold, with large white foam head

S: aroma is hoppy and earthy

T: taste like a hops on top of hay and cat pissed all over it.

M: medium to full bodied with good carbonation.

Overall: need to try other brews from crystal springs, the taste of this one scares me. Really tastes like cat piss or something