Perfect Strangers
The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works

This was the pinnacle of my over-exposure to Brew Kettle recently. They were $4.99/6 to take out at the Mentor Brew Kettle. Worth every penney.

It pours a pretty typical APA yellow with OK fizz. The aroma is weird but intriguing. "Coffee laced with the ale might be OK," the smell seems to say. The taste says, "Nope!." It's as weird as it sounds, coffee with an APA. Just too disparate tastes that (from this recipe, at least) don't seem like they were made for each other.

Not recomended. Even at the low low price. Sorry if that was a little harsh.

From the 12 oz can in a snifter. This solid little pale pours a nice
chill hazed golden with a nice head of white foam that settles to a
thick ring, tick clumping layer, and shows off some excellent lacing.
Nos of faint coffee, bittering hops, grain notes, and subtle pine
with touches of caramel. Flavors pack the punch with grain
notes, lemon zest, moderate coffee, bittering hops, pine notes, caramel,
subtle toast, and light herbal notes. Nice mouth feel; medium body,
medium light carbonation that has some nice and refreshing lift,
and a bitter hop finish.

Overall, a brew that is on the verge of being the equal the sum
of it's parts, but falls into more of a pale than a hybrid.

That said....

Overall, a solid little brew!

Cheers

 

Perfect Strangers brewed by
The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works. This American Pale Ale has an ABV of 6.00% The brew pours out of a 12oz can into a pint beer glass. The color is a nice golden amber color with a nice white head. A slight haze to the amber color as well. There is also a nice amount of lacing to this brew, it sticks to the side of the glass well. The smell is rich with earthy grains and malts at first. Then a nice slight mild coffee notes at the end to tie it all together. So far Perfect Strangers is a nice inviting brew. Now for the taste, it is Bold with flavors. The hop bitterness comes in nice, however the coffee smooths the hop bitterness out. Was looking for more Coffee notes with this one, however more Pale Ale notes. Not saying that is a bad thing. The body of this American Pale Ale is a solid medium. There brew goes down nice an smooth , it is hard to pick up on the 6.00% ABV in this brew. The mouth feel is Bold, Rich, Hoppy, Coffee, Smooth and Refreshing. Overall I am going to give Perfect Strangers a solid 4 out of 5. I would definitely look this brew up again givin the opportunity to.
The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works , did a nice job with this American Pale Ale.

Perfect Strangers from The Brew Kettle. Purchased on 20/3/21 at TBK, Strongville, OH, for $ 10.99 for a six-pack of 12 oz cans ($ 0.153/oz). In reefer at store. Stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 23/3/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. Served at 45.0 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57.7 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Gold (SRM 4), clear.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), slight haze. When rear-lite, same but effervescence evident.
Head – Large (Maximum 5.6 cm, aggressive center pour), white smoke, high density with scattered rocks, average retention, diminishing to six to 15 mm mountainous crown and a partial cap varying from thin to thick. Second pour produces no head.
Lacing – Fair. Single wide band of tiny to medium bubbles with multiple legs connecting to the crown.
Aroma – 4 – Cascara initially, slowly yielding to weak coffee. No malt, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.25 – Lightly bitter, slightly coffee, slightly cascara. No hop flavor, no malt, no yeast. No alcohol (6 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, watery, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for undated personal container) Not a fan of coffee in light-weight beers – always seems to go better with heavier stouts. That said, the cascara flavor and aroma seem better suited for the lighter beers like this. This is quite decent.

12 oz can poured into a pint glass at 43 degrees F:
L - Amber yellow with a white head that lingered
S - yeast and bread
T - well blended, notes of coffee, bitter hops and a slight breadiness
F - light mouthfeel with a adequate carbonation
O - Interesting, somewhere between a pale ale and a cream ale

 

L: Amber yellow. Mostly clear but not completely. Big fluffy head.

S: Coffee. Oh yeah, that's nice. And not "coffee" either. Actual coffee.

T: Hop bite and coffee bite. Double bitter. Even though I don't normally go for adjunct flavors, I dig it.

F: Dark coffee as a residual on the finish. I've always been a fan of Brew Kettle malts. They're always savory and buttery and melt on your tongue.

O: It's fresh and tastes great. Beware: it has alot of caffeine. Make sure to say 'Hoof Hearted' out loud so you don't miss the joke.

A beer like this should be “advertised” fairly. These strangers aren’t so perfect. Though alright enough, the beer is high on the pale ale feel and bitter hop taste, but not so high on coffee notes. Coffee doesn’t come through on the nose or mouth. It’s disappointing, especially given the can color and design. It’d be better if the coffee were present but subtle. Just not an especially complex or layered taste, and it really should be given the collaboration. Overall, this is a refreshing beer but one I don’t see many reasons for drinking again. I’d be surprised if this gets canned on a regular basis for the years to come.

 

 

I got a 6pck of this beer from my local meijer store. It poured a clear golden with thin white head that is leaving some lace. The scent had subtle coffee flare. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with well balanced coffee and hop notes. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall its a good beer.

 

 

Brewed with Hoof Hearted Coffee. 12oz can poured into a tulip. Pours golden with nice clarity and bubbles racing upwards; fluffy eggshell white head that fades leaving nice retention and lacing. The aromas have a nice blend of citrus, chocolate and coffee. Malts are there. The flavors follow the nose. Coffee and chocolate up front. Some grapefruit and citrus in the finish. Solid bitterness. Malts do their thing without dominating and almost taking a backseat. Finishes dry. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is very nice. It's on the fuller side of light-bodied with active carbonation. It's sharp, crisp, spritzy, slightly fluffy, smooth and easy to drink.

This is a pretty nice "coffee pale ale". It's very clean, crisp and refreshing. It's bold and has a perfect balance between the coffee and hops. The craftsmanship is very impressive. Well done.

Lightly foggy pale amber with a puffy off-white head slowly settling to a thin but blanketing film leaving tall sheer walls of lace.

The intro is coffee first, hops second. This combo works well for me, but it does have a sharp, piney bitterness that compounds, lightly so, with the coffee earthiness. Some might find this a bit too assertive, but I dig it.

Upon second sip, the coffee becomes a little chocolatey, and in conjunction with the light malt, adds a note of vanilla whip before turning to solidly West Coast IPA that just peeks its head in before flying away to a clean, semi-wet finish.

The medium round body is crisp, and it becomes a little more dank and IPA forward with time.