4-County Pale Ale
Kinkaider Brewing Co.

 

12oz bottle. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of citrus, toasted caramel and pine. Nice toasted caramel presence with sweet citrus and piney bitterness.

 

 

 

Not many beers like this one. I'm totally enjoying it. I'm tasting grapefruit and a hint of pine. Slightly hoppy. I wouldn't consider it bitter. It goes down so smooth. I think this replaces Deschutes River Ale which is no longer made and I was a fan of that one also. I'm glad I found this.

 

Pours a murky, dark opaque orange with a finger and a half of off-white head. Great lacing left behind. A hint of tropical citrus, folds in with pine hops for the aroma. Light biscuit malts as well. Flavor profile is tropical fruit, grapefruit, pine, and resin. There is a biscuity, wheaty malt notes as the beer's flavor profile fades on the tongue. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a good balance of carbonation and grainy texture. Overall, a beer with a delightful hop presence, and yet very much approachable. Nice body to the beer as well.

Bought in store the day it was bottled, and then shipped to me. Enjoyed within a week of bottling.

Served in a 12oz snifter.

 

I'll start this write-up by prefacing that nothing Kinkaider has done has even remotely impressed me. I think they're the worst brewery in Nebraska, perhaps in the Great Plains.

For April 1st, 2017 they re-tooled their 4 County IPA recipe. It's phenomenal.

There's more haze to this one than before. It's a dark burnt orange color with an impressively stable head.

Aromas of fresh Mosaic, Columbus, and garlic bread.

Flavor is extremely clean, refreshing, and crisp. The hop flavor is outstanding! For sure incorporating dry hopping. I'm getting lots of Mosaic, Citra, and Amarillo. I'm assuming these were the aroma and flavor hops. Citrus, crisp watered pine, and an exquisite bread-like finish.

Feel is very crisp, with a slightly yeasty finish. Mostly clean.

Overall, I'm not really sure what happened here. New brewmaster? This beer is every good as some of the big hitters I've had, coming close to the ballpark of Daisy Cutter and Zombie Dust. I'm not joking here guys. Perhaps it's the fact that it was bottled yesterday, but this beer is simply outstanding. I know the original 4 County was never this good. This is the only Kinkaider beer worth buying. If they do more of this with other beers, they may take off quickly.

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a Shaker pint glass, "best by" date 4-20-16.

APPEARANCE: pours a hazy, copper color with one-finger off-white head that slowly dissipated until a thin, unbroken layer of small bubbles remained, moderate lacing, medium carbonation.

SMELL: candy lemon citrus and bread.

TASTE: lemon citrus and bread then a mild, earthy and somewhat metallic hop profile.

PALATE: lighter body and higher than average carbonation.

OVERALL: this is an odd beer, never had one quite like this, not sure what to make of it, it wants to be an English Pale Ale but the lemon citrus seems out of place, it's not bad but not sure this is something I would seek out again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sample of this beer had been bottled 18 days prior. Upon being poured into a pint glass the beer produced a very short lived head consisting of fairly coarse bubbles. The liquid itself had a color typical of a pale and was quite hazy, which in my view is a good thing. The aroma is decidedly hoppy and indicative of a fresh, carefully brewed beer. Flavor-wise this ale is a little hoppier than I prefer. I am still longing for an American Pale Ale that exhibits a nice malt character. Overall I think this pale is a good stab from a brewery which I am watching with great interest.