Brewed By: Half Acre Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois
Purchased: 16oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Half Acre in Chicago, IL; 2013
Style/ABV: American Wheat Ale, 5.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
After drinking that lovely Stiegl Radler, I need something to ground out my palate before calling it a night. About Half Acre:
Reported IBUs: ?
After drinking that lovely Stiegl Radler, I need something to ground out my palate before calling it a night. About Half Acre:
The Half Acre Beer Company was founded in October 2006, which is young for craft beer in general, but great for the local Chicago scene. The founders of Half Acre started out by working with the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls in Wisconsin. They eventually developed their Half Acre Lager, and began distributing and selling it in Chicago during the August of 2007. The beer was successful enough that Half Acre was able to buy out a space in the Bucktown area of Chicago. With continuing sales, Half Acre was eventually able to purchase equipment from Ska Brewing Co. and moved to their current location on Lincoln Avenue on the north side of Chicago. Half Acre has been brewing at their Chicago location since 2009, and seems to be really expanding in both amount of distribution and popularity. Check out the full story HERE, and check out their website for a low-down on all their beers and info.
If you roll over to the Akari Shogun page, you can see that this beer is an American Wheat Ale that uses the Motueka hop (a hop local to New Zealand; similar to Saaz). Clocking in at 5.5%, this is the perfect American-style-ale counterpoint to the Summer/Spring. Also, the can art is fucking awesome.
I'm impressed...this is one of the better looking Wheat Ales I've seen. This one pours a vibrant, almost radioactive, hazy yellow-gold color. There are some hints of bronze and orange in the body, with a hint of clarity towards the bottom. This one kicked up a finger's worth of white head. The head has great duration, and picks up some hints of white-yellow/gold in low light. There's visible carbonation in this in the form of mid-sized bubbles, but this one just has a captivating lack of clarity and a bold body. Would eye-bang again.
The aroma is bright and hoppy, with some grass, strawberry, peach, pineapple, mango, tangerine, light Aspirin...shiiiit, this reminds me of Citra hop bombs a little bit. I wonder if they use some Citra in here. There's a grain component on the nose as well...lightly toasted grain/bread...coconut? Word.
This is one refreshing beer, with big hop kick and tons of subtle grain on the back end. I'm getting sweet peaches, tangerines, strawberry, grass, mango, tropical fruits, and a nice transition to more bitter grass, kiwi, and tropical fruits. There's some pineapple in here, and just a hint of zesty hop spice. You also pick up some nice grainy complexity, with hints of grain, toast, biscuit, and a dash of mineral bitterness, undoubtedly accentuated by the hops.
This is stellar, and oh-so-drinkable at 5.5%. There's a reason they put this in a 16oz can. This has a medium-light to medium-full mouthfeel, supported by moderate carbonation. You get some carbonation on the tongue, with some bitterness that kicks in mid-palate. This one cleans up with some grain and hop bitterness; fade to dry. For the style, palate depth is great, and complexity is good to great. You get blasted with hops right out of the gate, with balanced and constrained sweetness; mid-palate rolls into more hops, and introduces some nice grain complexity; the back end continues with hops and grain, and adds a layer of bitter complexity. The finish is refreshing, hoppy, bitter, grainy, and just a touch dry.
Rating: Divine Brew
This could rival Three Floyds' Gumballhead, so as far as Midwest American Wheat Ales go, this is a Light Divine Brew. I don't know what to say. This isn't a prolific style by any means, but these Midwest brewers are pushing it to a reasonable extreme. This beer has balance with some nice grain, and the hops are bright and vibrant. This would pair with various salads, barbecues, fruit salads, corn on the cob, ribs, hot dogs and hamburgers, and any other summer food, really. You could also go the pizza/bar food route. If this stays on shelves, this could be my new go-to in Chicago.
Random Thought: 16oz cans are awesome. I petition that we make 16oz the standard size for beers in cans.
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| Dayum. Half Acre Akari Shogun |
I'm impressed...this is one of the better looking Wheat Ales I've seen. This one pours a vibrant, almost radioactive, hazy yellow-gold color. There are some hints of bronze and orange in the body, with a hint of clarity towards the bottom. This one kicked up a finger's worth of white head. The head has great duration, and picks up some hints of white-yellow/gold in low light. There's visible carbonation in this in the form of mid-sized bubbles, but this one just has a captivating lack of clarity and a bold body. Would eye-bang again.
The aroma is bright and hoppy, with some grass, strawberry, peach, pineapple, mango, tangerine, light Aspirin...shiiiit, this reminds me of Citra hop bombs a little bit. I wonder if they use some Citra in here. There's a grain component on the nose as well...lightly toasted grain/bread...coconut? Word.
This is one refreshing beer, with big hop kick and tons of subtle grain on the back end. I'm getting sweet peaches, tangerines, strawberry, grass, mango, tropical fruits, and a nice transition to more bitter grass, kiwi, and tropical fruits. There's some pineapple in here, and just a hint of zesty hop spice. You also pick up some nice grainy complexity, with hints of grain, toast, biscuit, and a dash of mineral bitterness, undoubtedly accentuated by the hops.
This is stellar, and oh-so-drinkable at 5.5%. There's a reason they put this in a 16oz can. This has a medium-light to medium-full mouthfeel, supported by moderate carbonation. You get some carbonation on the tongue, with some bitterness that kicks in mid-palate. This one cleans up with some grain and hop bitterness; fade to dry. For the style, palate depth is great, and complexity is good to great. You get blasted with hops right out of the gate, with balanced and constrained sweetness; mid-palate rolls into more hops, and introduces some nice grain complexity; the back end continues with hops and grain, and adds a layer of bitter complexity. The finish is refreshing, hoppy, bitter, grainy, and just a touch dry.
Rating: Divine Brew
This could rival Three Floyds' Gumballhead, so as far as Midwest American Wheat Ales go, this is a Light Divine Brew. I don't know what to say. This isn't a prolific style by any means, but these Midwest brewers are pushing it to a reasonable extreme. This beer has balance with some nice grain, and the hops are bright and vibrant. This would pair with various salads, barbecues, fruit salads, corn on the cob, ribs, hot dogs and hamburgers, and any other summer food, really. You could also go the pizza/bar food route. If this stays on shelves, this could be my new go-to in Chicago.
Random Thought: 16oz cans are awesome. I petition that we make 16oz the standard size for beers in cans.
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