Blotter
Cellar West Artisan Ales

a fresh four pack shipped directly to me pretty much the day it came out by a close friend, boy am i blessed! this is maybe the first i have seen from these guys in a can, at least that wasnt a collaboration, and at least that i can remember, which might not be saying all that much. the art is awesome, a grateful dead lightning bold, blotter paper grid lines, and a turtle dosing with some hops, pretty legendary graphic! the beer inside is predictably fantastic too, modeled on an english summer ale, but done with modern hops and unsurprisingly a yeast that seems more rustic saison than english pale. it smells fresh and fruity, but very much old worldy, a maris otter type malt thing happening, some neat minerals, and the new school hops, meyer lemon, kiwi fruit, white grape, and melon. i realize a am not the hugest fan of amarillo in any beer, and i think it smells better than it tastes in here, but this is tastefully hopped, not overdone, enough so that it remains european and ancient rather than modern and trendy, despite the varietals. the yeast is awesome in here, not totally fermentation driven, but definitely a major point of interest here, as it pretty much always is in cellar west beers. there is some hop bitterness in the taste for sure, a graham cracker note to the grain, very harvesty and agricultural to me, but also simple considering the obvious contributions from all of the elements, super cohesive and fresh and drinkable, and really a glorious beverage overall. great carbonation and it holds, clean on the finish for being somewhat juicy and having a trace of yeasty funk, and truly a perfectly nuanced summer drink, should be agreeable to beer nerds and the uninitiated alike. certainly the most excitement i can remember knowing in an english summer ale! cellar west has done it again. huge thanks to my homie for sending these to me!