Dank Squares: Strata Lot 1
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

 

This was one of a bunch of beers that I picked up at Other Half recently and took a while to get around to. This sounded interesting as I am slowly starting to like Strata more and more and this sounded it has a raw, Northern California finish to it and indeed, that was the case. Slick, dank, and easy to drink, this was an Other Half beer with a bit of a twist to it that worked out nicely in the end!

The pour to this was typical fare for Other Half as this had a golden hue to it with a nice brightness, uniform appearance, and plenty of head topping it off. Plenty of definition to the upper rings here as this got soapier in lacing as I worked my way through this. Lots of strawberry patch, outdoor garden, Strata dankness, and natural weed to the subdued aroma as the taste was quite "dirty", natural, and unabated. This beer had a bit of a roughness around it's edges but it was fun, inviting, and carefree at the same time as if it was leftover from a 60's concert and ended up in this century. Deep tangerine, orange juice, and Jack fruit combined with the strawberry for plenty of fruit and combined with a lively carbonation, resulted in a beer that didn't last in my pint glass for very long.

The amount of alcohol in this was spot-on too as I never tasted it and warmed up a bit as I finished this off, as the vegetable patch kicked in hard in the aftertaste with some flower power feel and chalky and pithy lime on my breath once this fully went down. Surprisingly, there was no date on the bottom of the can as that was the case with the last beer or two from that I had from Other Half; and I only mention that because nearly everything else that I've had from them has had the date clearly stamped for reference. Even with that factored in, this was a fun beer that wasn't quite like what I've become accustomed to from them, but was on par with their past releases. Can't wait to try Lot 2!

Pours cloudy orange color with a 1-2 finger thick off-white head that faded slowly and left decent spotty lacing. Smells of tangerine, lime, orange peel, grapefruit, pineapple, coriander, biscuit and light floral notes.

Tastes of fresh orange juice, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, honeydew melon, lime, wet cardboard, dry chalky yeast, Orangina soda, grains, light peppery spices and some trailing floral notes. Seems dry hopped as the citrus is very potent and complex. Really well balanced with a mild bitterness, this goes down easy.