Dragon Series: Pink Dragon
Alley Kat Brewing Company

 

 

 

Very enjoyable and easy drinking. A dry finish with a littl bitterness to balance the beer off.

Props to joemcgrath27 for passing along the latest addition to the Double Dragon series.

A - Pours a clear golden colour, finger of head with decent retention and some sporadic lacing.

S - Grassy hop notes, citrus rind, and toasted bread.

T - Surprisingly bitter, loads of bitter citrus rind, buttery caramel, candied lemon, hints of black tea, bready and resin notes.

M - Medium bodied, smooth and a touch of dryness.

O - Single hopped with a strain that I'm not all that familiar with, but a very worthy offering and will surely please those seeking out a bitter brew. A tasty addition to the series and another winner in my books.

 

 

 

Bomber decanted into a tulip glass. A bright clear coppery gold color with a finger or slightly less of creamy off-white foam. Interesting choice for a single hop DIPA; Sterling is a Saaz-Cascade cross with both spicy/herbal and citrus overtones (according to Hieronymus in his wonderful hop catalog). True old world/new world hybrid. Interesting nose, lots of cotton candy and jujubes with a hint of orange and bright green grass, lemon rind, and dry popcorn. Rather floral as well, chamomile if I had to call this element anything. Curious. Palate is similar, with a mishmash of different elements ... Cotton candy and orange cream, leafy greens, medicinal herbal tincture (a la some of the other Dragon series), lemon peel, apple pomace and skin ... Rather earthy and green as the backbone but with a glaring candy-like sweetness up front in your face. Cornflake-like malts underneath. Medium bodied, with ample fizz and a variegated finish of bitter leaf/pine needle, citrus peel, orchard fruit, flowers, and basically the hop kitchen sink. Pumpkin even? Black tea lingers long after the other elements dissipate. Less vinous and medicinal than some other Dragons (e.g., Columbus; although I am getting some grape late!!) and won't be confused with the citrus/tropical punch of hops like Citra or Amarillo. Interesting hop that reflects its mixed parentage. Herb, spice, fruits both citric and sweet ... Its disjointed but can be appreciated on this level.

 

 

650ml bomber poured into tulip 1/10/14

A clear light copper, lots of tiny bubbles sustain a two finger foam fairly well but only manages to leave a collar of lace

S floral, lots of soft caramel, a little grass, jujubes, juicy fruit gum, some orange cream, and maybe just a little melon

T has the same sweet candy like thing going on that I found on the nose, a little lemon rind, lots of sweet malt, and a little herbal

M medium full, creams up from the bubbles, bitter but I wouldn't guess 75+ IBU's, rind and a hint of grass and fruit on the finish

O I'm not familiar with this hop and it seems to be all over the place covering the floral, citric, grassy, herbal, spectrum, unusual but decent

I never really figured this hop out to be honest, another drinkable Dragon but nothing really memorable

650ml bottle. The latest and greatest installment of the Dragon DIPA Series, now back to single-hopping, this time with the Sterling varietal.

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber hue, with three pudgy fingers of puffy, tightly foamy, and sort of bubbly off-white head, which leaves some dripping paint streak lace around the glass as it slowly subsides.

It smells of bitter florals, mildly acrid orange and lemon rind, crackery and bready pale malt, a subtle caramel sweetness, and some further spicy, grassy hoppiness. The taste is juicy citrus and concentrated apple fruit, a heady spicy, floral bitterness, bready and slightly doughy caramel malt, a touch of white pepper, and a plain leafy earthiness.

The carbonation is quite active and fully frothy in its bearing, the body a sturdy medium weight, and the slowly burbling alcohol perhaps taking a small chink out of an otherwise pleasant smoothness. It finishes well off-dry, the sweetness of the caramel malt, booze, and floral essences only kept in check by the lingering bitterness of it all.

Although Sterling is a bred in the bone American hop, isolating and amping it up like this sure evokes impressions of what an Imperial English IPA might be like. Big and bitter, sure, but with a minimizing of the usual suspect (grapefruit and pine) notes, Pink Dragon has a snap to her, all right (yes, it's a she), making this a pleasure to drink, partly because it's something different, done well.