Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #453/454) bought at Binny's in IL; 2014 (bottled 07.11.2014)
Style/ABV: Fruit Beer/Pale Ale, 9.0%
Reported IBUs: ?
I had the pleasure of trying tonight's beer at the Naperville Ale Fest, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. This one is an "English inspired Pale Ale brewed with cinnamon and pears." Okay then. About Pipeworks:
"There once was a scooper named Scott
Who liked the pairing of pears and cinnamon a lot
He put spice in the brew
And all of the pears too
The result is an ale sure to hit the spot"
This one pours into a super cloudy, super juicy, non-descript, orange-yellow color. I did get a finger of gold-tinged head, and there's a nice sea foam/cauldron effect hazing of head hanging around. There is also some lacing....and alcohol legs, because this is punching in at 9.0% for some reason. The beer looks very similar in bright light, with some streams of carbonation visible courtesy of the glass.
On the aroma: not a whole lot. I'm getting faint pear juice and some hops, but what I'm really getting is cardamom, cinnamon, and some malty caramel/vanilla. This veers into super floral and fruity, with honeysuckle, straight up honey, and some notes that give off a Middle Eastern or Indian vibe. It is an interesting aroma, to say the least.
I'm not entirely sure why this is being called a Pale Ale...this is boozy and malty, with intense honey notes, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and pear juiciness. This veers into notes of honeysuckle and saffron...with an almost, cider-like or mead-like quality. I'm definitely getting pear, apple, and white grape notes...it's in the realm of wine or mead though, with an interesting dryness on the back end.
This is definitely a weird beer. This is some boozy, intense, full-bodied stuff. I don't even know why? I'm not complaining, but the 9.0% puts this in that American Double category. It's not hard to drink...in fact, this is well-carbonated, and cleans up nicely. This has substantial palate depth with good duration, but the complexity is kind of like "eh." Some people are reporting that this is a cinnamon bomb...I don't agree. I think the cinnamon in this can stand out sharply at times in tandem with the booze, dryness, and vinous qualities...but in context I think this works. For me, I'm getting a lot of sweetness, honey, and vanilla sugars up front; that rolls into vanilla, cardamon, sage, more honey, almost tannin-like astringency, white grapes; the back end drops the apple and pear juice, and then it gets weirdly hoppy and dry. To me, this tastes similar to a Doppelweizen or a strong Bock.
Reported IBUs: ?
I had the pleasure of trying tonight's beer at the Naperville Ale Fest, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. This one is an "English inspired Pale Ale brewed with cinnamon and pears." Okay then. 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.
The back of the bottle of Scotty's Weirdo Pear Pale Ale reads:
"There once was a scooper named Scott
Who liked the pairing of pears and cinnamon a lot
He put spice in the brew
And all of the pears too
The result is an ale sure to hit the spot"
 |
| Pipeworks Scotty's Weirdo Pear Pale Ale |
On the aroma: not a whole lot. I'm getting faint pear juice and some hops, but what I'm really getting is cardamom, cinnamon, and some malty caramel/vanilla. This veers into super floral and fruity, with honeysuckle, straight up honey, and some notes that give off a Middle Eastern or Indian vibe. It is an interesting aroma, to say the least.
I'm not entirely sure why this is being called a Pale Ale...this is boozy and malty, with intense honey notes, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and pear juiciness. This veers into notes of honeysuckle and saffron...with an almost, cider-like or mead-like quality. I'm definitely getting pear, apple, and white grape notes...it's in the realm of wine or mead though, with an interesting dryness on the back end.
This is definitely a weird beer. This is some boozy, intense, full-bodied stuff. I don't even know why? I'm not complaining, but the 9.0% puts this in that American Double category. It's not hard to drink...in fact, this is well-carbonated, and cleans up nicely. This has substantial palate depth with good duration, but the complexity is kind of like "eh." Some people are reporting that this is a cinnamon bomb...I don't agree. I think the cinnamon in this can stand out sharply at times in tandem with the booze, dryness, and vinous qualities...but in context I think this works. For me, I'm getting a lot of sweetness, honey, and vanilla sugars up front; that rolls into vanilla, cardamon, sage, more honey, almost tannin-like astringency, white grapes; the back end drops the apple and pear juice, and then it gets weirdly hoppy and dry. To me, this tastes similar to a Doppelweizen or a strong Bock.
Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. I don't want to shit all over it for being weird...it's not bad. It seems to be in the realm of a Doppelweizen or an Imperial Witbier. I'm just not seeing the connection to a Pale Ale...I mean, it does dry out towards the back, but an English Pale Ale? For what it's worth, I'm belching up pear juice which is quite nice. And this really isn't a cinnamon bomb. I'd call this a strong candidate for food pairings....again, I would go with Indian or Middle Eastern food...maybe couscous...you could even go Greek/Mediterranean here. This is vinous and mead/wine-like. I'd revisit this again, but they should dial up the pear juice.
I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. I don't want to shit all over it for being weird...it's not bad. It seems to be in the realm of a Doppelweizen or an Imperial Witbier. I'm just not seeing the connection to a Pale Ale...I mean, it does dry out towards the back, but an English Pale Ale? For what it's worth, I'm belching up pear juice which is quite nice. And this really isn't a cinnamon bomb. I'd call this a strong candidate for food pairings....again, I would go with Indian or Middle Eastern food...maybe couscous...you could even go Greek/Mediterranean here. This is vinous and mead/wine-like. I'd revisit this again, but they should dial up the pear juice.
Random Thought: Time to catch up on my Untappd backlog.
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