Mr. Needles Fir Pale Ale
Parallel 49 Brewing Company

Parallel 49 Brewing 'Mr. Needles Fir Pale Ale' @ 5.0% , served from a 341 ml bottle Day 9 Seasons Greetings
A-pour is a light gold from the bottle to a clear gold in the glass with a small white head leaving a fine spotty lace along the pint
S-hints of fir trees
T-fir tree in a pale ale , I can taste the tree bark
MF-ok carbonation , medium body
Ov-really didn't like this beer
prost LampertLand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A well aged example from the craft crossing seasonal offering ( reviewed Mid Feb.)

Tall fine head made me check for protein haze (none)..rocky to short lived over a mid copper clear and well carbonated. light ale nose with sweetness on the sides, unremarkable malt or hop aroma.
This tastes like Christmas! fir and hop, lots of malt and residual sweetness, there is a nice hoppy dryness on your tongue but a film of sweetness that lingers -the unfermentable honey sweetness that lingers after a mead.. and a gingered ale note that cleans up .. hint of nutmeg? mouth feel punches over its weight and overall I would love to pair this with Jamie Olivers jerked marmalade ham.
I appreciate a micro that takes a chance on an "out there" homebrew style recipe and would be happy to find this in next years offering.

 

 

Look: Pours like a NorthWest Pale Ale. Dark copper, fine bubbles.

Smell: Surprisingly fruity aromas dominate for me. Almost candy-ish fruit. Smells quite hoppy but not so much "fir-tree piney".

Taste: Oh wow, there's the fir tree! It tastes like a Christmas tree took a bath in a pale ale, then was chipped up, boiled, and the remnants squeezed of all their glorious pineyness. Quite a bitter beer as well, almost a tree-sap bitterness. Underneath it all is a solid malt backbone that offers a slight sweetness to balance out the ridiculousness of the hops/fir tree.

Feel: Average for a Pale Ale. It's fizzy with fine bubbles that prickle the tongue. Dunno what else to say, honestly.

Overall: I am very impressed with this beer's concept and execution. Parallel 49 didn't overdo the fir tree flavour, nor did they phone it in with some lame extracts. It literally tastes like fir tree needles smell like when you roll them in your fingertips to release the essential oils. Very well-made beer and an awesome treat in the 2015 Beer Advent Calendar.

Cool fact: Parallel 49 has had this label on heir website for a couple years now and just passed it off as a concept label that the artist threw out there for fun with no actual beer in the pipeline. Perhaps they had been working on the recipe for a few years and finally nailed it? Regardless, this beer deserves a try from any craft beer fan who can get their hands on it.

 

Day 13 of the Craft Crossing calendar from Central City and Parallel 49. 341ml bottle poured into tulip glass.

Pours a lovely deep copper with a thin white head that leaves spotty globular cluster lacing as it recedes.

Smells like an english pale ale enjoyed under a fir tree. Pine needles, hops and soft faint malt.

Tastes like Survivorman's pine needle tea successfully combined with a beer. Fresh bitter needles and resiny hops. Polite dinner biscuit malt.

Mild carbonation. Medium bodied. Finishes dry and Christmassy.

Verdict: Recommended.

Definitely, a love it or hate it beer from the P49/Central City Advent Calendar. Pours an amber brown with a thin head. The fir needles really overpower the nose with only a hint of malty sweetness. The hop taste hits you first with some of the signatures notes of tropical fruit you would expect from a West Coast IPA but, its quickly overwhelmed by, the taste of the fir needles with a lingering finish. You would really have to love the taste of pine needles or the smell of a Christmas tree to get you in the mood for this one. Definitely not to my taste but, it's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination.