Peasant King
Burlington Beer Co.

 

 

 

 

On tap.

A - Opaque dark gold color with thin lacing and looks like river sludge.

S - Aroma is stale citrus with some slight oxidation. Good gravy man, how old is this keg??

T - Astringent oxidized pulpy apricot, papaya, and citrus with some pepper spice citrus rind.

M - Big chewy body that finishes initially wet, and then starts to dry out.

O - What year is this keg from or is it meant to be this way? Not too impressed (sorry to say). Will re-visit and change this review to be transparent and honest to the beer.

 

No date I could find.
The can says nothing about being a NE style and neither does the description here.
Yup it's cloudy but not butterscotch swirl in appearance. Pale, foggy yellow with a low white head and good lace trails.
Aroma is astringent and metallic - sharp hop notes of citrus with alcohol. Different but not inviting.
Soft fruity flavors to start - rich, sweet melon and grapefruit, malt sweetness is there but enveloped in the late boil hop character.
Grain flavors peek through but are overwhelmed by the hop acids though interesting flavor profile, no toasted notes detected under the hop blanket.
Mellow bitterness works itself in on the back end, dry and puckery like sucking a lemon.
Body is medium with a push, alcohol very obvious if not quite hot.
Brewer need to clearly state NE style no matter the abv because this just is NOT an IPA double or otherwise, it's just a hop flavored strong ale.
I am SO done with bs "juicy" beers.

It's a nice pour from a pint can to empty it easily into a clear Imperial pint glass. Thankfully, there's only a modest head atop and this pour was at room temperature. The color of the brew is orange-amber and it's opaque. There's some good earthy hops for the nose, as well as some malt or other starch backing. There's much the nose and the taste buds agree upon here. The hops are much more sharply biting than the nose could ever detect. That bite might be assisted by the 9% ABV, which is otherwise undetected. There's not much sweetness added to the overall taste by the malt, but it's there and it provides a decent body. But, this is a hoppy standout. They start out earthy, then transition to sharply piney and finish bitter, clean and dry. This is an excellent Imperial IPA, even without any glass lacing.

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy dark orange with a small persistent head and moderate lacing.

Smells of floral, lightly piney hops along with some citrus, sweet fruit and yeast.

Tastes of slightly tart grapefruit and orange. Melon tastes come out as the glass warms. There is a slightly bitter, warm boozy finish.

Medium body with light carbonation. Brut mouthfeel.

This brew is pretty well balanced between bitter/tart and sweet tastes. Neither overpowers. This a dangerously drinkable brew.

 

 

 

Traded for this at the end of last week as a friend of mine made a run up to Vermont recently. Although I haven't been the biggest fan of the other Burlington beers that I had, this was a nice New England IPA with a less-than-common array of hops that turned out to be a nice take on the style in the end!

The pour to this was golden, hazy, and subtly radiant as the head was level, steady, and settled quickly. A good amount of lacing was left behind starting with a thin ring near the top of my pint glass and a massively thick one at the middle and bleeding much of the rest of the way down. Lots of Pilsner and Vienna Malt in the nose along with white grape, melon, starfruit, and urine (yeah, I said it) as the taste evenly followed suit. The clementine was felt more in the mouthfeel than the taste as this was quite dank, exotic, and full-bodied as the malts gave the edginess an opposing familiarity that helped me enjoy this down to the last sip. Not a lot of carbonation but there was enough to keep this as light as possible, given the hops...

Indeed, those were different s the Kohatu and Zythos were like Idaho 7 or Wai-iti on the familiarity scale as they were not my normal cup of tea although this easily left me wanting for more. No date was written on the bottom of the can or on the label but this was as fresh as could be with as it *felt* like a session beer due to it's recessed alcoholic presence. Easily the best offering that I've had from Burlington!

Appearance: Pours a hazy but brilliant orange with a two finger head; excellent retention and shards of lacing

Smell: Clementine orange, for sure, with papaya, pineapple and melon tones supporting; the unusual malt bill is also detectable

Taste: The hops take center stage, with the Clementine, papaya, pineapple and melon flavors building but careful attention to taste will also show the clean Pilsner as well as the hint of caramel from the Vienna; moderate bitterness appears, in the middle, but there is also some residual sweetness in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: My favorite of the Burlington IPAs I have tried and it isn't even close