Sown And Grown Series IPA Release #2
Bale Breaker Brewing Company

 

 

We missed #1 but #2 makes up for it. Clear golden amber. Light head and lacing, with a nice hoppy aroma. Taste is clearly and squarely an IPA, with a slightly higher ABV. Body is clean with a little viscous taste and lingering bitterness. The beer is very similar to their Leota Mae IPA which uses local hops. The beer's claim to fame is home-grown barley, which if they really wanted to highlight them, would have been a pale ale or a lager. Still, a fine IPA.

L: Filtered copper-gold with a lot of head on the pour settling to two fingers of froth and some partial lines of lace.

S: Asparagus. I kid you not. My brewer friend picked this up strongly as well. Otherwise it's bittering hops.

T: Wildly bitter. I don't taste the asparagus thankfully. I don't taste much. Have no idea how folks are getting berries and grapefruit, lemon, or pepper. Sound good though. I get bittering hops pure and simple - nothing else.

F: Kind of thin but not quite lagery. Some mouthfeel similarities to most pilsners.

O: Strange. It is drinkable but I'm surprised. I've had some real killer brews from Bale Breaker. This is not one.

16oz can poured in to a nonic glass, canned on FEB 21 20.

Look- Clear golden amber color. Solid bright white with great retention and lacing. Very active carbonation streams visible.

Smell- Citrus (bright orange, grapefruit and lemon), tropical fruit, some melon and berry, bready malt, resinous pine and floral/herbal notes.

Taste- Similar to the aroma. Big citrus, sweet malt, a hint of tropical fruit and berries, pine, lingering moderately hoppy bitter finish. Nicely balanced.

Feel- Medium bodied, dry side and really crisp. Medium carbonation on the tongue.

O- A really solid old school west coast style IPA, BB nailed it with this one.

 

Can from ABV.

A clear copper with a dense, off-white head with great retention and lacing, this looks great. The nose is piney, pungent and bitter with grapefruit and bitter orange peel present, The Munich malt is a lot more reserved than you'd find a a German lager, lending a light undercurrent of bread and a touch of burnt caramel to the full-on pine and grapefruit hop. This is such a classic PNW expression of an IPA, focusing more on dank bitterness tempered by just a little sweetness. The palate opens bitter, pungent, resiny and piney with grapefruit, orange peel, pine, a moderate dankness.The mid-palate has a mildly creamy, delicately doughy malt character, lightly toasted and with a touch of burnt caramel. Medium light in body, softly carbonated, this beer has a long, bitter finish with lingering pine. Just a hair watery towards the finish, this beer is otherwise excellent.

 

 

 

On tap at Belmont Station the other day.

The beer pours a golden amber color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is attractive in this beer, as I pick up light honey, light onion, some noticeable tropical fruit, light herbaceousness, and a hint of pepper. Nothing is overdone, but the overall aroma is that of a well made WCIPA. The flavor profile replicates the nose in this well crafted IPA, but with decent bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is light, but with persistent flavor, and this beer has a lovely mouthwatering quality that I always appreciate. Drinkability is quite good in this beer, with the alcohol well integrated into the flavor profile.

Impressive effort from the folks at BB, and I found this beer to be superior to the original version one S&G. Definitely a beer I'll be keeping an eye out for from now on.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with coppery notes and a one finger white head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of pale and lightly caramel malt, citrus, lightly piney and dank hops, mixed citrus and mild pine. Flavor is pale malt, citrus and piney hops with some dankness, lemon, grapefruit and pine. Finishes with fresh herbal piney and citrus hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess and bright carbonation. Like the first release, this has a lighter, almost pale ale style malt and I was initially underwhelmed until the fresh tasting hops kicked in near and in the finish. Once again, this had a herbal hop flavor that tastes very much like fresh hops, which are many months away. Bale Breaker loves their hops and this is another fine exhibit for them. Classic West Coast hop profile in this one.