Peak Organic Brewing Company Evergreen IPA

Peak Organic Brewing Company Evergreen IPA. 7% ABV. Brewed and canned by Peak Organic Brewing Company, Portland, Maine.

Lightly hazy, golden toned, slim whitish head.

In the nose: Prickly pine and plenty of citrus. Grapefruit, tangerine, lemon. Lovely stuff.

In the mouth: Nice citrus explosion on the palate. Lean bodied, light malt. Slightly sour note that shouldn't really be there.

 I want to like this. I start out liking it, but in the end...eh. Can't do it.

Evergreen IPA is built from Peak’s flagship IPA, but enhances the hoppy pine notes by blending in organic juniper berries and organic spruce. The result is a unique IPA with bright pine and resin hop character. The finish is distinctly crisp, begging for another sip.

ABV: 7%

SUGGESTED FOOD PAIRINGS: Thai Food, green curry, a juicy burger, or pho.

Summit Hopvale Organic Ale

Summit Hopvale Organic. Proudly brewed in St. Paul, Minnesota. Session Ale brewed with Lemon Peel. Brewed with organic hops, organic malt, and organic lemon peel. Alc. 4.7% by Volume.

Appearance: mostly clear, with some chill haze, golden hued, white head with lacing.

Aroma: big citrus zest nose screams out of the glass, some floral and spice notes, too. Lively, lovely stuff.

Taste: Nice, tidy hop bite at the fore, then all is smooth and mellow. Lean, crisp malt body. Sweet malt character is soon subsumed by bittersweet hop attack. Nice refreshing light ale, sure to be a hit this summer. (Though it's a year-round.) Long, pleasant bitter hop finish. It's not amazing or anything, but not everything has to be. Good beer. You can drink it.

Here's a little more about this beer.

Summit Unchained No. 12: 100% Organic Ale

Summit Organic Ale, Unchained Batch No. 12.

Why is this called 100% Organic Ale. Prior to now, Organic Ales did not include organic hops, because they were just not available, and those beers were still called organic and given a pass. No more, now there are plenty of organic hops around, and Summit brewer Gabe Smolley went to town with them. I cracked open a bottle, and here's what I had to say:

Clear, dusky bronze coloration, solid, lasting, creamy head.

Aroma: nice and hoppy. Piney, spicy, lively as heck.

Taste: Even more vibrant hoppy presence on the tongue than in the nose. Excellent bitterness, with people of malt, to boot. A touch of carmel in the malt, a sliver of sweetness, a bit of rye malt spice flavor comes through, though I'm not sure that it's there. Tasty and downable. Hey, let's look at some stats, viewable on the 6-pack box:

Style: Session IPA.

Color: Light copper

100% Organic Malt: Pale. Munich, C-120, Carafa II

100% Organic Hops: Palisade, Cascade, centennial

IBU: 60

ABV: 4.5%

Hey, I like these organic session IPAs. Thanks, Gabe Smolley!

Fish Tale Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale

Years and years ago, I did a ton of trading with beer people around the country to try brews not available here. This was when the local pickin's were very slim, both in locally brewed beers, and was was distributed to us. Nowadays, many of those are available to us easily, although the beer scene has changed so much that there continue to be so many more breweries that have opened, and so large a pool to draw from, we can never get to them all, can we?
So, here I am, drinking a fresh sample of a Washington brewery that is freshly available again, and looking back at my first review from a trade bottle received and reviewed back in July, 2003:


My experience with another Fish Tale Organic was rather pleasant, and I had high hopes for this one as well....
American Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV,

Clear, light amber hue, with a an ample, white head, that drifts swiftly down to size.
Aroma is on the quiet side, to be polite. Alert, awake, fresh, even zesty, but possessing no particular flavorful sensations, nothing I like to detect in an ale, no matter how pale. As time goes on, the nose grows particularly more bitter, and there's an increasing fruitiness flowering, but only a bit.

Once over the lips and on the tongue, disappointment prevails. Very simple, with a some hop presence, but remarkably mild at that, and very scant malt, if any. That hoppiness rides meekly through the finish and it's appreciated well enough, but it's a far cry from what I want.
Light body, slight texture, feeling more like a faint, inoffensive ESB than a fruity, hoppy pale ale. I'm not going to quibble over stylistic designations any longer, just end on the note that it moved me not.

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout. Malt Beverage with natural flavors added. Samuel Smith's Brewery (Tadcaster), North Yorkshire, England. 550 ml. Product of England. 5% Alc. by Vol.

Samuel Smith's and I go way back. Before I was into American craft beer, before I knew there was such a thing, my first  beer love was English. It didn't take long for me to try their products once I knew of them, and they remain among my favorites, although I rarely drink them any more. Part of that is due to the obsession with trying everything under the sun I've never had before. Another reason is that they haven't released a new product in a while. Yorkshire Stingo was perhaps the last new one I tired, but it was before I started adding reviews to this blog. Note to self: look for Stingo. In fact, stock up on all the SS products, why don't I.

Aroma: I'm mentioning this first, but it fills the air, as soon as the bottle is opened and floods the sense. Full and beautiful. More of a baker's cocoa than anything else. Still haven't lifted the glass to the nose, so here it goes. Deep, rich, milky, creamy, semi-sweet, and not a little bit bitter. Everything you want from chocolate, here in this stout.

Appearance: solid black with ruby-brown highlights at foot and side. Creamy brown head on top.

Taste: Bam! Chocolate milk, sweet, rich, indulgent. Small bitterness, lush malt, cocoa flavor swims through the mouth, creamy and delightful. You can't help but throw it back and want some more. Medium mouthfeel, moderate bitterness, full flavor, incessant cocoa taste.

The organic label, this time, does not yield a disappointing product, as is so often sadly the case. This beer is 100% yum. Who cares how organic it is, it's nothing but delicious. Highly recommended.

Eel River Acai Berry Wheat

Eel River Certified Organic Acai Berry Wheat. Product of Northern California, 12 fl. oz., 4.0 % alc/vol.
No gobbledygook on the label, so I'm utterly unaware and unimpressed by the who, what, where and why of the acai berry. Just happy to drink it. Let's go.

Hazed golden color, slimmish, but staying, white head. Prolific bubblation.

Sweetness and fruit in the nose. If you expect me to pinpoint the fineries of the acai berry, it ain't about to happen. Sweet, soft, lush, and lovely.

Drinking it: Soft, light, and fruity. Minor mouthfeel and texture. Minor and light are the watchwords, here. They keep on coming, in place of any other words that will not come.

A little sweet, a little fruity, light, wheat, breezy.

You could do worse.