Botanical Gardener
Arts District Brewing Co.

 

Outstanding. I don't post many reviews anymore but this was worth taking a break from my hiatus to review.

L:

Standard. Crisp, inviting, a very dark golden brownish with a thin head. A flavorful looking beer. Not too gold, not too dark. Proper pale ale look with a hint of something more to it, which is exactly what you get.

S: A lively pine and juniper smell, not overpowering like an IPA but somewhat more exotic. Not tropical, but sweet and different from a standard IPA or pale. A good mixture of the deep fruitiness of a darker old ale but the piney refreshing smell of a solid IPA.

T: The taste is what you pay for and the taste is what you get. This is next to perfect in my book. A pleasure of spicy pine flavor with a floral, gin and juniper IPA feel, followed with a deep fruity and sweet flavor that keeps you revisiting gratefully on the 2nd and 3rd drink.

F: Crisp, refreshing. An almost sessionable and easy drinking beer.

O: I went in with no expectations and only the menu description to go off of. This was beyond what I could imagine. When I read "Raisin and gin" to go along with the tag of "Pale Ale" I instantly thought novelty beer. This balanced everything exceptionally. While it's description might scream novelty, the combination of fruit, floral, and warming/spicy gin fleck, kept it brilliantly teetering between that of a pale and an english old ale, and some level of exotic gin beer, incredibly well. Every flavor plays off itself, bringing out satisfying elements of the beer in the process. This is what mircobrews should strive for when attempting mixtures of complex flavors and ideas. Well done beer.

Bottom line, low alcohol, great flavor, and one that is certainly worth having one, two, or three of! Excellent stuff.

even limited exposure to this brewery has given me a great respect for them. i have liked all the beers, and many of the best have been the most off the wall and inspired, including this one, a well made and drinkable low alcohol english pale ale as a base beer, but its made with spent gin botanicals like sage and juniper from a nearby distillery apparently. something like this could go either way, but its beautiful beer. the botanicals arent too much, but the certainly are distinct, a rubbed sage meets a peppery gin with some citrus and evergreen notes to it, spicy and interesting in nose and taste, but the fact that this is an english not american pale base is the real genius. a maris otter or light crystal malt gives the beer a needed bready base note, while the yeast is sort of the great unifying element here, without it, and with more of an american hop profile, this wouldnt be substantial enough to be balanced, and i appreciate the base beer as much as what else is in it when i sip on it. juniper and lemon and bay leaf and lime all come to mind, lemon candy and baked crusty bread, its complex and its delicious, and as pungent as it is, its fresh and beautiful and not at all too much. i couldnt imagine such a thing being done any better than arts district has done it here. i adored this!