Nepenthe Ales Solo-Springer
Candia Road Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured a dark yellow, with a billowy white head, plenty of lace.

Smell was very off, grapefruit, banana, clove, and maybe a little pine.

Taste the same, someone messed up when they called this a pale, Belgian IPA maybe.

Body a bit this, over carbonated, dry, and the flavor being so bad pretty undrinkable.

Overall not good, actually I drain poured it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the 22 fl. oz. limited edition bottle. Sampled on August 2, 2013.

It has a pretty cloudy pale yellow pour with a large white head that slowly simmers down to a ring but generally clings there until the end.

The aroma makes me think of something in the Belgian line because of the toasted biscuits and candied sugar sweetness. Hop are not as noticeable on the nose.

The body is medium.

While hops are hard to spot on the nose they make themselves be heard loudly in the taste with a penetrating earthiness that supersedes the brief biscuit malt and sweetness flavors of the start.

 

The beer pours a hazy, sunburst yellow with hints of orange. The beer pours with a beautiful white head of medium sized and sparkling bubbles that look like snow on the top of the glass. The head leaves a lacing of thick fat walls along the glass. In body, the beer is cloudy but full of tiny bubbles of carbonation. The other side of the glass can be seen, but it is as dark shadows, not as a clear image. This beer is very nice to look at. On the nose the beer smells dank and grassy with a light touch of pine, onion, and light lemon citrus. It is a pleasant and inviting smell, featuring a far more herbal scent of hops than other recent beers in the style. The dankness is the overpowering smell on the nose, and is prickly and enticing. On the tongue, the beer tastes sweet and nicely bitter, with the bitterness slightly overpowering the sweet. There is citric acidity that does bite the mouth a little and brings out a lot of saliva. In flavor, the beer begins as herbal grassy hops with a touch of rosemary, slowly building into big bitter pine with faint touches of citric orange peel and chalk. The finish is dank and prickly with rosemary, pine, and weed flavors, while the aftertaste is of light medicinal bitters, grapefruit, and a soft bready malt that really only appears in the aftertaste. In the mouth, the beer feels on the light side of medium in body with a beautiful carbonation that fluffs over the tongue with a light bite, leaving the palate clean. The mouth is left rather wet from the acids in the beer, though dry along the roof. Overall, this is another great New Hampshire Pale Ale. I just recently reviewed the Blue Lobster’s Gold Claw, and I am impressed at the difference between the two different beers, and how they both meet the style beautifully. This beer is nearly Gold Claws equal, save for its slight oniony smell, and the sticky bitters that linger in the aftertaste in not the most pleasant way. The brewery calls this a golden ale, but I have yet to find an ale that really fits that category in my head. This is a great American Pale Ale that is heavy on the hops and bitters, but holds great balance. It’s a little too bitter for my taste (for the style), and I personally like a juicier hop profile. This is a great lawnmower beer, though, and a great sipper. I can’t wait to see what else this brewery does. Try this beer.

 

 

 

22oz bottle gifted to me by my sister. Thanks Jen! Have to admit I've never heard of this brewery before...so I have no expectations on this one - positive or negative. Poured into a Dogfish Head signature glass.

A - Pours mostly clear with a pale golden hued amber color. A thick finger of dense, finely bubbled white head lingers for a couple of minutes, eventually leaving behind foamy lacing on the glass. Good looking beer.

S - Nice aroma consisting of the requisite citrus notes - mostly grapefruit with hints of lime and tangerine. A mix of tropical fruit kicks in as well with some pineapple taking the lead. Some spiciness can be detected, almost but not quite giving a Belgian IPA-ness to it, a bit estery, and some alcohol is present as well. Malt is subdued, only yielding faint hints of sugary sweetness in the background.

T - Good fresh hoppiness...medium level bitterness at the base. Complemented well by a mild but more prominant malt base than was found in the aroma...a bit sugary, a bit biscuity and toasty, and some grainy cereal-ish character. Fruity and estery up front - lots of grapefruit and pineapple, piney to a lesser extent. Alcohol is noticeable at just the right amount...enough to feel that this is a 7.4% beer and probably not wise to down bottle after bottle of this, despite the brewery calling this a lawnmower beer.

M - Lightish medium body that somehow seems thinner than I think it should be. Assertive carbonation gives a good tingle on the tongue. Bitterness becomes a bit aggressive and turns sharply medicinal towards the finish detracting from the overall impression just a bit. I love the bitterness up front and in mid-swallow, but I'd prefer a bit of a smoother finish on this one.

O - Overall a pleasant surprise. Given the strength of this beer, I have a hard time calling this a pale ale and certainly not a lawnmower beer. I guess in order to make an impression these days, a pale ale has to be closer to an IPA in character. Regardless, this is very good. I have a bottle of their Shire Stout in the fridge that I am now quite anxious to try. Definitely going to be asking Sis for more from this brewery in the future.