Crop Circle Extraterrestri-Ale
Blue Point Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Pours hazed dark amber with a thin island rather than a head. Some strands of thin lacing stick.

The smell is of strong caramel/toffee - carmelized barley malt with a hint of mint.

The taste is of sweet, slightly burnt, sugary caramel/toffee, with a nod towards chocolate. Malty, with just a touch of minty hops in the finish. There is something "English" about the maltiness (probably the barley that was brought from England).

Medium-to-full bodied, it does have a malty smoothness, despite noticeable alcohol.

The slightly burnt malty character is almost impressive, but alcohol does show a strong hand, and there is just enough minty hop balance (and roast) to keep sweetness reigned in. Interesting, and the one went down pretty easily.

Light beige colored head with decent lacing action. Dark brown brew with some reddish tints.

The aroma of malts,caramel and grains.

The taste was malty,fruits abound and a hint of caramel and light hops.

The feel was medium to full body with medium carbonation.

Notes: Something about the balance. Alcohol not well masked and it just seemed forced. Not so easy to drink but I imagine that this brew would be better in the winter.

This beer poured a red-tinged dark brown with a single-finger tan head. The smell is mostly bready malt with a bit of floral hops. The taste starts off with some sweet malt that's cut quickly by the floral and slightly piney hops. Pretty good balance, not much hops bitterness lingering in the finish. The mouthfeel is slightly thick with subdued carbonation. This is a pretty tasty and drinkable little beer. Not sure how well the gimmick of using malted barley from fields with crop circles helps it, but it's a tasty beer that does the trick without knocking anyone's socks off.

Reviewed on 8/5/08. Bottle. Pours a dark mahogany with a thick light tan head. Aroma of sweet, slightly roasted malt and dark fruits. Flavor of sweet fruits, nuts, toasted malt, with a bitter hops finish. Quite drinkable and enjoyable.
7/4/7/4/14 (3.6/5)

The beer pours a dark amber/brown color with a thick frothy offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is average. It has a burnt toffee scent along with a warming alcohol aroma. The taste is average. It has a dry alcohol laced burnt toffee taste that goes down bitter and thin and finishes warm and bland. The mouthfeel is average as well. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is an average beer. I like the burnt toffee concept, but why is it so high in alcohol and thin? Where's the body? It's one and done for me.

bottle. smell was a little toasty and sour(not a good sign)... poured a nice rich copper color with about a centimeter of off-white head. carbonation was present but subtle, not sharp or caustic. toasted maltiness prevailed with some bitterness near the middle that quickly faded. definitely caramel... reminded me of birch beer but not as sweet. medium mouthfeel, not too much and not too little. the alcohol was just right; i can feel it without tasting it. however, nothing really special. it was nice, but once (or twice) is enough.

pours an almost hazy med. reddish-copper color with a thick tan head which sits there for a moment leaving a moderate lacing in my nonic ; a bit of a subdued smell, but a great one, toasty cereal grains, caramel, dark fruits, a hint of licorice and floral hops, it's got it all, just not quite enough of it, this is this beers only downfall; a rich, nutty, toffee-like flavor with raison asserting itself and a good hop bite in balance w/ the huge malt flavor, a bit of mineral in the finish, an excellent overall flavor ; a robust med. bodied brew that finishes a bit dry, actually, with an average level of co2 ; pretty drinkable considering the ABV, but so good you can't help but have more than a few

12 oz, single bottle copped from Monarch Liquors in New York...
Didn't realize that this particular brew was from Blue Point - a company from which I've sampled quite a few beers from in the past...
Pours a deep, dark, ruby-red, mahogany color with a minimal frothy head that left quite a bit of lacing around the glass...
Mild, amber, grainy, earthy aroma that was quite subtle and not very assertive...
Taste strongly complemented the smell, with a decent suggestion of malts, hops, amber, grains, and earthy notes...
Average mouthfeel coupled with an equally average level of drinkability make this a decent beer but nothing above and beyond...
Average - nothing special...

Bottle courtesy of joeybeerbelly.

Beautiful reddish amber color with a small head.

Smells very sweet and malty, mostly sweet though. Very unusual aroma.

Tastes very sweet and malty just like the smell would indicate. Seems to be a bit of fruit in the taste as well. Very drinkable beer. I liked this offering.

Thanks, Joe!!

12oz bottle, served in a standard pint glass.

A - clear, amber color with a good 2" tan colored head of foam that eventually settles to a layer, leaving lots of sticky lacing on the glass.

S - rich, roasted barley malt aroma with some bitter hop smell, it's not sweet smelling for sure.

T - rich and malty, bitter bite, very dry finish. Good bitterness on the after taste.

M - medium bodied with smooth carbonation.

D - easy drinking beer, it's not too filling and I enjoyed the taste.

Final Note: There's more info on this beer at their website, if you want to copy and paste the address to your browser...

http://www.cropcirclebeer.com/

As a note I think there is some confusion about this beer on the database. This beer is brewed by Blue Point and not Brickhouse. There is a duplicate entry for this beer under the Brickhouse brewery. Anywho onto the review. This beer pours a slightly hazy deep brown color with a light tan head. The smell is of toasted malt, roasted nuts, and a wine like aroma, similar to an old ale. The taste is of toasted malt, roasted nuts, and a very light grassy hop in the end. It has an almost chocolate like finish. The feel is a lot thicker than expected, with slightly soft carbonation and a quite smooth feel. A very enjoyable, complex, and unique brew.

This was a darker amber ale than expected with nice carbonation and really good hops and a little spice. It's served on tap at Waterfront Ale House in Brooklyn. It almost had a taste of a dark beer, but that's probably due to my ignorance of the amber style. Delicious and robust.

As a big fan of the X-files (with mulder, I mean really, X-files without mulder is like a menage-a-trois without the women) I had to try this one...

eyes...
2 fingers of soapy white head, nice clean amber tone, head is really soapy (large bubbles) it settles down into an O-ring within a couple of minutes, slight carbonation plays peek a boo with you inside the glass, not bad, nothing to make me go hmmm

nose...
aroma takes some work to detect, somewhat sickly sweet malts, some toasted caramel notes. I shouldn't have to snort lines of this beer to get some odor...

taste etc...
the carbonation is low and flat-ish feeling which makes the body of this not so good, mild malts with some mild bitterness, that typical "amber" flavor is in there in the aftertaste but this is pretty underwhelming. the whole beer itself is pretty underwhelming. The alcohol also does tingle the tummy letting you know it is there. I suppose this could compete in the macro market as it is not assertive in any way shape or form (not even in a weather balloon)

verdict?
mostly a gimmick brew, I can't recommend this one. Aliens should come back and kidnap this beer...

Contract brewed for Blue Point in Baltimore MD. according to the lable. Billed as an " Extraterrestri- Ale , Amber Ale - @ 6.7% abv. Bottle blurb states this beer is brewed using "genuine imported crop circle barley from Englands most famous crop circle farm". OooooK...
Pours a deep reddishy amber with a tight off white head - some drippy lace. Carbonation is slow and steady, beer is very clear.
Aroma is nearly non existant - some malty notes of cookie batter and toffee/ demarera, but very light.
Good up front sweetness with some rich malt character typical of strong English ales. The malt flavors carry through the mildly metalic hop bite that leaves a fuzzy- fizzy mouthfeel behind. Body is very thin for a 6.7% Amber
( XESB by my book) and the tasty caramel malt gets lost somewhere in the middle.
Finish is quite hoppy with a nice lingering earthy bitterness.
Slightly heavy handed on the bittering hops for an Amber / ESB in my book, but I think the excessive filtering and / or fining probobly sucked alot of the life out of this one.
Contarct brews; usually good enough to try out of curiosity, invariably not good enough to buy again. Such is the case ( again) for me with this one.

Appearance: pours a clear copper color with a 1" head that lasts several minutes. When it falls a thick surface foam remains. Spotty lacing paints the glass.

Smell: caramel and mild fruit sweetness are simple but pleasant on the nose.

Taste: plums, red grapes, big caramel sweetness, and a hearty bitterness makes up a a very flavorful ale. The hops came through like some other fresh hop ales do - flowery and bold.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Crisp at the start, smoother towards the finish. Very brief aftertaste.

Drinkability: this is an easy to beer that has enough body and fresh bitterness that will excite your tastebuds all day long. Great beer here.

5/19/2007 12 oz. No best by date.

Appearance:

Pours a crystal clear amber topped by a thin film of tight tan head.

Aroma:

Roasted cashews with a hint of caramel and peat as well as some bitter herbs.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Chewy, yet creamy mouthfeel leads off this stellar offering. Roasted nuts accompany a rather caramel sweet malt backbone that is tinged with muted hints of fresh hops. A beautiful session beer, this is superbly crafted. Blue Point has struck the nail on the head with this one.