Beer Reviews by Prof Sudz

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Friday, April 13, 2012

Lucid Camo Beer Review

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Lucid Brewing Company is a brand new brewery in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Tonight I will give their Imperial Pale Ale a whirl (I don't know what they're going for calling it that, maybe not quite an Imperial India Pale Ale, but bigger than an IPA?). Lucid Camo is its name, and it has 9% Alcohol By Volume.

This will be my first exposure to a Lucid Brewing beer, and according to their website, they are trying to create approachable, yet high quality beers that might appeal to newer craft beer drinkers and convert them to the quality beer scene.

Lucid Camo is a clear amber colored beer, topped off by a bubbly, medium sized white head, which sticks all over the glass in a solid sheet of lacing.

 The nose is a pretty even mixture of sweet caramel and pale malts, with a bright and fresh hop profile, largely citrus and piney with some floral and tropical fruit notes as well.

The sweet pale and caramel malts provide a pretty nice base, but are quickly washed over by the hops, which dominate the taste. Lightly floral, with a slight earthy influence, before traversing the prominent citrus, grapefruit and tropical fruit range, and winding up in a piney bitter region. A spicy alcohol is definitely detectable and comes off just a bit hot.

As I work my way through the bottle of Lucid Camo, I definitely understand why they are calling it a Double Pale Ale. Its not quite as aggressively bitter as your traditional Imperial Pale Ale, but definitely moves beyond what you would expect with most IPAs. So I would say that they have aptly described Camo with that appellation.

Lucid Camo is just a tad rough around the edges, but I feel that it nicely achieves its goal of being a smooth drinking yet flavorful dose of hops. So far Lucid Camo is the only beer that I have seen in stores from Lucid Brewing (I found it at the Four Firkins), but given this introduction to their beers, I will definitely be on the lookout for them as they release more beers going forward.

Lucid Camo : B+



Abbey Monks' Ale Beer Review

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The next beer out of the samples I received from Abbey Beverage Company that I will review is a Belgian Pale Ale with 5.2% Alcohol By Volume called Abbey Monks' Ale. According to the fact sheet that was sent with the samples, the brewery actually regards it as a Abbey Single Ale, which is a lighter variation of Belgian Pale Ale due to the use of pilsner hops. And in the Medieval period, the style was made with the third draw of wort from the mash tun.

Abbey Monks' Ale is a lightly hazy, deep amber colored beer. A small white head briefly tops it off, and a fair amount of lacing remains behind on the glass.

The nose isn't too complex, mostly focused on a spicy Belgian yeast and a light caramel malt.

The spicy yeast also comes to the forefront in the taste, with a light, sweet malt, pepper, some light fruits lingering the background, and a bit of a medicinal quality. The grains emerge a bit as the taste evolves. The mouth is medium bodied and pretty smooth.

Abbey Monks' Ale is marketed (at least according to the info sheet that was included with my samples) as a session ale, and I suppose it would serve that role pretty well. It could use just a bit more balance in my opinion, as the spice really outweighs the malt foundation, but for some people that might be a plus.

Overall not bad, but I enjoyed their Monks' Wit more.

Abbey Monks' Ale : B-