Dragon Series: Amarillo Dragon
Alley Kat Brewing Company

Smooth not too bitter. No or little alcohol taste. Dangerously good.

 

 

Another treat courtesy of Mr. joemcgrath27, pours a nice golden colour woth a slight haze, thumb of head with nice sheeting lacing. Nose is loaded with pine and citrus, hints of pepper and musty caramel. The flavour is much the same with tart citrus and sugary pine, must caramel on the finish and candied lemon peel lingers. Another solid offering for the Double Dragon series and stoked to get the chance to try it.

 

 

650ml bottle poured into tulip.

Pours a clear honey amber with one finger of off-white head that leaves soapy windshield lace as it recedes.

Smells of bright sappy pine, orange and lemon peel, crisp caramel malt and flowery, resiny hops.

Tastes of brown bread crust, more sharp citrus peel and pine resin, and more hoppy greenness.

Feels smooth and solid. Medium-heavy with velvety carbonation. Finishes dry.

Verdict: Recommended. This series is always good.

650ml bottle, a sort of surprise new offering in this line of single-hopped Double IPA offerings from this brewery. They are also departing from the colour theme of naming these beers, and just going with the actual hop involved this time.

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and yet somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves some layered bleeding paint swath lace around the glass as it slowly sinks out of sight.

It smells of gritty and grainy caramel malt, sharp, if indistinct domestic citrus rind, a hint of earthy yeast, subtle exotic fruity notes, and some testy leafy, piney, and herbal green hop bitters. The taste is biscuity and grainy pale malt, some lessened caramel sweetness, a touch of muddled table-top pepper mill spice, still muddled generic citrus esters, a steadily understated tropical fruitiness, and more bridling piney, grassy, and vaguely perfumed floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is rather involved, what with the basically aggressive frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, perhaps some of the house hops' astringency making a dent in the proceedings here. It finishes off-dry, the base malt not about to call it a day, while the fractured citrus and verdant hoppy essences frolic about, uncaring and unknowing as ever was.

Overall, this is another very agreeable and patently drinkable iteration of this always welcome series - the Amarillo varietal (I swear that they've used this one before, but I'm too lazy to look through hundreds of historical reviews to verify it) holding itself to a relatively lofty standard. That, and the 15-proof wowee sauce quotient barely makes a ripple, as per usual. Good, good stuff.