Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 750ml bottle (Batch #200) bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (bottled 9.9.13)
Style/ABV: Belgian Golden Strong Ale, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
For this weeks Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™, we are rolling all gangsta. Tonight's beer is a riff on the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, with the addition of...pineapples and lime juice! We'll see how that works out. About Pipeworks:
"AU! Pawn yo chains, grillz, and candy coated helicopters, but hold onto your Pineapple Bling, 'cus it's always in Belgian style. This ain't a fool's golden ale, but a glittering brew sportin a pilsner malt base booted up with rye, german and northwest hops. The yeast is the number one stunna, struttin tropical fruit notes and a tart dry finish complimented by pineapple and lime juices. This ale is worth it's weight in gold..en ale."
The beer pours into a really sexy, golden-yellow body with a finger of hazy, white head. The body is hazy and well-carbonated, and the head settles into a sea foam coating. In bright light, the beer is pretty much yellow. This beer may be the purest representation of yellow I've seen in a beer. There's a ton of carbonation in this, with tiny streams of bubbles rising upwards. Head retention is solid, and there is some lacing and legs.
I'm getting vanilla, clove, and juicy citrus on the nose. I'm also getting big cakey notes, and sugary vanilla cake sweetness. In addition to the vanilla and cakey sweetness, you get A TON of coconut on the nose. Vanilla coconut cake, eat your heart out.
This tastes much like the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, only a bit less dense...I'm picking up on some pineapple/lime juice, but it's very subtle. Otherwise, the beer brings lots of dense malt sweetness to the forefront, with cakey density and clove juxtaposed with citrus/pineapple/lime, and lots of coconut and vanilla. This is still lighter and more refreshing this time around, which is probably courtesy of the juice....but maybe the recipe was tweaked too.
Despite the cakey sweetness and malt density, this beer is a bit more grounded than the CA$H 4 Golden Ale. This beer is on the higher end of medium-full bodied, but it has good drinkability (especially at 10.5%) thanks to tons of carbonation, and lots of citrus juice. Speaking of citrus juice, as I work through this, I'm picking up more and more of the lime/pineapple juice. Palate depth is outstanding, but the complexity is low. Up front is Pilsner malt, cakey density, vanilla, clove, coconut; that rolls into big clove, coconut cake, and citrus/lime/pineapple juice; the back end is trailing pineapple juice and lime, with a dry, Pilsner-esque finish.
Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'll go a Light Above-Average here. This is a big improvement over the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, and this beer is very drinkable. The big coconut/vanilla works perfectly with the pineapple/lime, and this beer has a real summer and tropical vibe. I would pair this beer with a Hawaiian style burger or chicken sandwich, or some tacos. You could also stack this up with some strong cheese, meats, and your usual Belgian Ale food pairings. Solid stuff, and a big improvement over the base beer.
Random Thought: I'm ready for the weekend, and hopefully some football redemption.
Reported IBUs: ?
For this weeks Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™, we are rolling all gangsta. Tonight's beer is a riff on the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, with the addition of...pineapples and lime juice! We'll see how that works out. About Pipeworks:
Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.
I always wondered, and maybe some famous rapper who stumbles upon this shitty blog can help me out...do you pour the champagne on the titties before or after you skeet on them? I feel like you would pour the champagne on before, right? Because afterwards, it just gets messy. But then again, maybe champagne has awesome skeet-removing properties. Either way...the back of the bottle reads:
"AU! Pawn yo chains, grillz, and candy coated helicopters, but hold onto your Pineapple Bling, 'cus it's always in Belgian style. This ain't a fool's golden ale, but a glittering brew sportin a pilsner malt base booted up with rye, german and northwest hops. The yeast is the number one stunna, struttin tropical fruit notes and a tart dry finish complimented by pineapple and lime juices. This ale is worth it's weight in gold..en ale."
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| Pipeworks Pineapple Bling |
The beer pours into a really sexy, golden-yellow body with a finger of hazy, white head. The body is hazy and well-carbonated, and the head settles into a sea foam coating. In bright light, the beer is pretty much yellow. This beer may be the purest representation of yellow I've seen in a beer. There's a ton of carbonation in this, with tiny streams of bubbles rising upwards. Head retention is solid, and there is some lacing and legs.
I'm getting vanilla, clove, and juicy citrus on the nose. I'm also getting big cakey notes, and sugary vanilla cake sweetness. In addition to the vanilla and cakey sweetness, you get A TON of coconut on the nose. Vanilla coconut cake, eat your heart out.
This tastes much like the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, only a bit less dense...I'm picking up on some pineapple/lime juice, but it's very subtle. Otherwise, the beer brings lots of dense malt sweetness to the forefront, with cakey density and clove juxtaposed with citrus/pineapple/lime, and lots of coconut and vanilla. This is still lighter and more refreshing this time around, which is probably courtesy of the juice....but maybe the recipe was tweaked too.
Despite the cakey sweetness and malt density, this beer is a bit more grounded than the CA$H 4 Golden Ale. This beer is on the higher end of medium-full bodied, but it has good drinkability (especially at 10.5%) thanks to tons of carbonation, and lots of citrus juice. Speaking of citrus juice, as I work through this, I'm picking up more and more of the lime/pineapple juice. Palate depth is outstanding, but the complexity is low. Up front is Pilsner malt, cakey density, vanilla, clove, coconut; that rolls into big clove, coconut cake, and citrus/lime/pineapple juice; the back end is trailing pineapple juice and lime, with a dry, Pilsner-esque finish.
I'll go a Light Above-Average here. This is a big improvement over the CA$H 4 Golden Ale, and this beer is very drinkable. The big coconut/vanilla works perfectly with the pineapple/lime, and this beer has a real summer and tropical vibe. I would pair this beer with a Hawaiian style burger or chicken sandwich, or some tacos. You could also stack this up with some strong cheese, meats, and your usual Belgian Ale food pairings. Solid stuff, and a big improvement over the base beer.
Random Thought: I'm ready for the weekend, and hopefully some football redemption.
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