Dragon Series: White Dragon
Alley Kat Brewing Company

 

This is the second Dragon Series IPA I've sampled, and it is clear that the folks at Alley Kat are on to something. This is a nice looking brew, with a tremendously interesting nose. There is plenty of pine and rain forest, but my sniffer isn't sophisticated enough to pick up everything that was happening. The Chinook hops mean the taste is far more Christmas tree and malt than the usual IPA citrus. The flavor kicks strong and lingers in your mouth. I'm not a huge Hop Head, but this is a very satisfying beer.

Props to joemcgrath27 for keeping me up to date on this series.

A- Pours a clear golden colour with a c opper hue, thumb of head with solid retention and some nice sticky lacing.

S - Loads of pine, hints of cotton candy, fresh citrus rind and cedar.

T - Nice fruity hop flavor, hints of pineapple and cotton candy, citrus hop notes and sweet caramel malt notes on the finish.

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

O - Another solid brew in the line up, loads of flavor and Goes down like water. Man I love this series.

 

I liked this much more than previous beers in the same series

Bomber poured into a tulip glass. A pale clear hue somewhere between golden amber and copper penny, with an initially large foamy white head that quickly renders down into some nice horizontal strips of lacing on the glass. Aroma is medicinal pine needles (probably the main element perceptible to my sniffer), low key red grapefruit, lemon, peppercorn, fresh grass. Smells like one might expect Chinook smell like, herbal/spicy rather than super citrus forward or tropical, although the lemon is unexpected. I often get a cotton candy-like sweetness with these Dragons, and that's indeed here but fairly well cut by pine and spice elements. Some vinous character as well. Considerable woody and "forest floor" character. Some orange pulp. Carbonation seems low. Medium bodied I'd say, maybe just on the thick side of medium. I find myself wanting a few more bubbles for some reason. A bready character emerges late. Maybe Chinook is not going to produce the fireworks that some newer flavor hops will in a brew like this but I'm enjoying nonetheless. Spicy notes linger for a long time, recalling herbal tea and fennel seed. My best friend says this yields a great "winter IPA" vibe and I concur wholeheartedly.

 

 

 

650ml bomber poured into pint glass 14/11/14

A another good looking Dragon, clear golden yellow liquid saturated with tiny bubbles that feed a very well sustained two finger foam that leaves lots of random lace deep down the glass

S orange and lemon peel, sweet malt, sherbert, spruce, a little woody, herbal tea bag, smells pretty good

T more of the same really with just a little less intensity, more sweet malt and just a hint of booze

M silky with less bubbles then I expected after looking at it, a little gritty on the gums but sticky on the lips, rind lingers

O I think Chinook lacks just a little something on its own but a respectable DIPA nonetheless, worth a try for sure but I've had better Dragons

Alley Kat keeps pumping them out and I they haven't given me a reason not to try everything they bottle, the 6$ price tag doesn't hurt the cause

650ml bottle, the latest in Alley Kat's more or less monthly one-off releases - this time it's the next in the Dragon Series, single-hopped with Chinook.

This beer pours a clear, pale copper-amber hue, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly eggshell white head, which leaves some random active storm front lace around the glass as it slowly recedes.

It smells of semi-sweet doughy caramel malt, muted pine needle and floral forest floor esters, musty orange and red grapefruit flesh, a bit of stoney flintiness, and further herbal lemon furniture cleaner notes. The taste is big on the herbal, grassy, and slightly spicy hoppiness right off the bat, over a softly bready, and mildly crackery pale and caramel maltiness, with some white pepper edginess and more lemony Pine-sol metallic warmth.

The carbonation is quite pleasantly light and frothy, the body a decent medium weight, and fairly smooth, with a gentle airy creaminess. It finishes a little off-dry, the graininess and lemon fruitiness doing a bang-up job of holding that spicy herbal flora essence at bay.

Another interesting and eminently drinkable single-hopped DIPA from the good folks at Alley Kat. The Chinook varietal shakes things up once again, with its leaning away from yer typical big citrus and straight pine needle IPA tropes - its spiciness slowly builds towards the end, until you can't remember not noticing it - or something like that.