Mr. Sunday
Paw Paw Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great 2016 Christmas present from my Dad. This was a 12 ounce bottle taste. My dad had heard the story of Charlie "Paw Paw" Maxwell and Mr. Sunday so he was excited to buy the beer. Only great feature was the initial taste. Flavor and aftertaste faded seconds after drinking. I'd say this beer is more about nostalgia and less about taste.

 

12 ounce bottle into pint glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy dark orange/copper color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, lemon zest, caramel, brown sugar, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/tropical hops and dark/bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, lemon zest, light pine, caramel, brown sugar, toasted bread, light nuttiness, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, caramel, brown sugar, toasted bread, light nuttiness, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of juicy citrus/tropical hop and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish as expected of 5%. Overall this is very good hoppy amber ale. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of juicy citrus/tropical hop and moderate dark/bready malt flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. I really liked how bright and juicy the hop character was in balance with the malts; and it was not all that bitter. A very enjoyable offering.

12 oz. bottle from Copper Vine ($1.79), poured into a shaker pint.

A- A normal pour makes for a 1-finger, off-white head. The body is a deep amber, sort of copper. It's pretty clean with light carbonation. The head becomes a light foam and there are wide rings left on the glass.

S- For a "hopped up amber ale" as the label notes, it's on the sweeter side at first. I get a lot of caramel and toasted malts. A little nutty.

T- Again, quite malty. There's a lot of caramel and whole wheat toast. Something like peanuts as well. Hopping isn't as robust as the label would let on. Some spicy hops come through the finish to clean things up, but I wouldn't call it super bitter or anything.

M- Rather clean and quite dry in the finish. A little hoppy bite with an assist from decent carbonation levels.

O- I like the spring offering and the nod to an old Detroit Tiger (even drank from my "Made in Detroit" glass). I was unaware of his record of 4 consecutive home runs against the dreaded Yankees in a double header (on a Sunday, wink, wink). It's not a bad brew. Doesn't do a lot to stand out. Not going to seek it out, wouldn't say "no" to one either. It just sort of gets lost in a category that is a little saturated.