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Fresh off the Farm IPA – Bale Breaker Brewing Company

I previously reviewed Bottomcutter Imperial IPA from Bale Breaker Brewing Company. I gave that beer a 4.75 out of 5. Fresh off the Farm isn’t quite as good but it still rates high. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up anything from Bale Breaker if I saw it on the shelf.


From Bale Breaker Brewing Company website:

Fresh off the Farm IPA was brewed in the center of hop field 41, just minutes from downtown Yakima, by Bale Breaker Brewing Company. A big hop aroma on a clean Pilsner malt base perfectly showcases a few of the newest and most exciting hop varieties off their family’s hop farm. Whirlpool additions of Loral™ and Mosaic® add depth to the nose generated from a post-fermentation charge of Mosaic® and the experimental HBC 630. Originally brewed as the official beer of Seattle Beer Week 2017, this brew is being re-released to celebrate Bale Breaker’s Fifth Anniversary. Get it while you can!

ABV: 7% IBU: 60 SRM: N/A

Malts: Pilsner
Hops: Lora, Mosaic, HBC 630
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: N/A

Availability: April 2018

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Low head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine
    • No malt aroma
    • Low to no esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Pine, Citrus
    • Medium hop bitterness
    • Low to no malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Light finish.

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Music:
Golden Ocean
Nicolai Heidlas
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/

Parkland Pils – Fremont Brewing

Crisp, light and refreshing is what a pilsner should be. Parkland Pils delivers a light and refreshing lemony pilsner that is very drinkable. Available only in March, it is a beer that you could drink several of on a warm Spring day. I just wish I had the equipment to brew something like this. IT would definitely be on permanent rotation.


From Fremont Brewing website:

Spring is the season of Renewal and Invention, and that’s cool with Fremont, so we decided to offer not one, but three different beers for our Spring Seasonal this year. The final beer in our Spring Seasonal series is Parkland Pils, a crisp pilsner to welcome the coming sun and warm days. We first brewed this beer to drink after working a shift at the brewery and kept brewing it because, well, we work a lot of shifts and need a lot of beer. And we thought this pilsner was really good, and we brewed some to share with you. Parkland is brewed with German malts and Yakima Valley hops. “There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.” – Steven Wright

I previously reviewed The Sister, also from Fremont Brewing

ABV: 5.5% IBU: 35 SRM: N/A

Malts: Barke Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsner, Carafoam, and Acidulated malts
Hops: Magnum and Czech Saaz
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: N/A

Availability: March 1 – March 31

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Lemon
    • No malt aroma
    • Low to no esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Lemon
    • Low hop bitterness
    • Low to no malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Light finish.

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Music:
Let’s Begin
Nicolai Heidlas
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/

Sasquatch Snax – Three Magnets Brewing Co.

Sasquatch Snax is a beer that should have never made it out of the testing phase. That initial batch should have been a lesson of what not to do when brewing a beer. My only guess is that Three Magnets was under contract to brew this beer for the Washington State History Museum. They were given a list of required ingredients. They had no input in what to do if the batch turned out tasting like dirt. This beer is awful. Avoid it at all cost.


From the can (spelling errors and all):

This a collaboration between three magnets brewing, adam’s mushrooms, skagit valley malting and krist novoselic & dr. bob pyle from the band butterfly launches from spar pole. It will be served at bigfoot night, alongside a live performance by butterfly launches from spar pole! Part of the proceeds of this beer will benefit the washington state historical society

ABV: 7.1% IBU: 40 SRM: N/A

Malts: N/A
Hops: N/A
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: Stinging Nettle

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Hazy
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Earthy, Dirt
    • No malt aroma
    • Low to no esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Dirt
    • No hop bitterness
    • Low to no malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Light finish.

Help out by signing up with Tavour. Save $10 on your next beer purchase.
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Music:
Saturday Night
Nicolai Heidlas
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/

9th Cloud Hazy IPA – Matchless Brewing

At this point I’m over the hazy tropical IPA trend. I don’t want my IPA to taste like pineapple or mango. It should taste and smell like a pine tree. There’s nothing special going on here with 9th Cloud. It’s your standard soft IPA designed for people that don’t like beer.


9th Cloud was brewed to celebrate the 9th anniversary of The Beer Authority in Seattle, Washington. The Facebook event page is here.

From The Beer Authority event page:

The master brewers of Matchless Brewing were commissioned to make the Beer Authority’s 9th Anniversary beer, working with Hop Nymphs along the Western slope of the Cowiche Canyon. The head brewers after praying to the hops gods finally had selected the magical hops to be harvested during the rise of the Harvest Moon last Burctober to brew this cloudy deliciousness for the Beer Authority’s 9th Anniversary.

ABV: 7.2% IBU: N/A SRM: N/A

Malts: Pale, Oats, Wheat
Hops: Waimea, El Dorado
Yeast: Juice
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Hay
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • tropical fruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Tropical fruit
    • No hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • No astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Light finish.

Help out by signing up with Tavour. Save $10 on your next beer purchase.
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Music:
Jazz Comedy
Bensound
https://www.bensound.com/

Bottomcutter Imperial IPA – Bale Breaker Brewing Company

A bottomcutter is a tractor like vehicle used to cut hop vines at a given height. If you would like to see one in action you can find clips here and here. With Bottomcutter IIPA Bale Breaker has come up with an IIPA that is aggressive and fresh. Heavy with pine notes in both aroma and flavor. You can’t get much better than this.


This is the second time I’ve encountered Ekuanot hops in as many reviews. They were also in The Sister. Look for a brew day featuring Ekuanot in the near future.

From the Bale Breaker website:

Double dry-hopped with homegrown Yakima hops, Bottomcutter IIPA may be light in color but is packed with citrus and pine hop character. This Imperial IPA is brewed to finish dry, perfect for the combination of Citra®, Simcoe®, and Ekuanot™ hops. As the bottomcutter is a tractor that leads the topcutter through the fields during harvest, this beer will lead to a new appreciation for our valley’s hops.

ABV: 8.2% IBU: 100 SRM: N/A

Malts: N/A
Hops: Citra, Simcoe, and Ekuanot
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine, citrus
    • No malt aroma
    • Tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Medium alcohol
    • Pine, citrus
    • Aggressive hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Medium astringency
    • Drying body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Medium finish.

Help out by signing up with Tavour. Save $10 on your next beer purchase.
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Find my check-in to this beer on Untappd:
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Music:
Wings
Nicolai Heidlas
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/