overall
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style
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RATINGS: 232   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.63/5   SEASONAL: Special   IBU: 62   EST. CALORIES: 264   ABV: 8.8%
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
POST- PROHIBITION BALLANTINE IPA RECIPE RECREATION USING PERIOD-CORRECT HOP VARIETIES. BREWED IN COLLABORATION WITH STONE BREWING CO.
Old, new? It’s all the same, really. Cluster’s Last Stand defies the commonly  accepted notion that strong, hoppy beers are recent arrivals on the US beer landscape. Smuttynose has teamed up with Stone Brewing Company to recreate the original, post-Prohibition Ballantine IPA recipe. That’s right; strong, 60 IBU beer was brewed in the 30’s. How do we know? We read it in Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele’s excellent and well-researched book, “IPA, Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale.” The only difference  between this beer and more contemporary IPAs are the hop varieties: Cluster, Brewers Gold, Bullion and East Kent Goldings. None of these are trendy and we were a little surprised to find out that all four were readily available. The result is a rich, copper-colored ale with a strong, refined hop profile of spiciness with a hint of grapefruit.

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3.2
Ungstrup (51276) - Citizen of the universe, DENMARK - MAR 22, 2020
UPDATED: MAR 22, 2020 Bottled. Can. A yellow beer with a white head. The aroma has notes of straw and malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of straw, hops, and malt, leading to a bitter finish.

3.7
dorain (2484) - Berlin, GERMANY - JUL 11, 2019
UPDATED: JUL 11, 2019 Aus der Flasche 2015-02 getrunken. Ein frische, schön fruchtige Aromen von Grapefruit und Südfrüchte. Am Gaumen hatte ich mit einen Brett von Bitterkeit erwartet und wurde positiv überrascht. Denn dieses IPA ist nicht nur schön fruchtig und der Alkohol ist gut eingebunden, sondern auch die typische Bitterkeit ist für ein IPA echt verhalten. Klasse!

3.8
Svesse (14172) - Hässelby, SWEDEN - FEB 1, 2019
UPDATED: FEB 1, 2019 (Bottle) Hazy amber colour with frothy, off-white head. Malty, fruity nose with notes of citrus, apricots, orange peel, crisp-bread, caramel, a touch of resin and some honey. Malty, fruity taste with citrus, orange peel, apricot marmalade, pink grapefruit, crisp-bread, caramel, resin and a generous citric bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a certain sweetness. Tasty and well made, with generous amounts of fresh hops, well balanced by a chewy malt profile. Quite hoppy, but never aggressive. Very nice.

3.4
Lowenbrau (5865) - Asturias, SPAIN - DEC 19, 2016
1pt 6 fl oz bottle @El Lúpulo Feroz, Oviedo. 6-04-2015.
Pours hazy dark gold with some nice white head. Short head retention, poor lacing. Peachy, fruity, earthy nose. Medium body, average carbonation, crispy texture. Taste is slightly bitter, fruity, peachy, some maltiness. Sweet aftertaste.

3.4
OminouSC2 (4194) - Mora, SWEDEN - JUL 11, 2016
Golden/orange color. Crisp hop aromas, citrus and grass. Fresh taste, citrus hops, floral and grass. (My wife mentioned shampoo. I think it’s the hops.) Alcohol finish makes it seem like an Imperial IPA instead.

4
rjplumer (1390) - Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA - MAY 30, 2016
Sweet fruit spice aroma. Hazy burnt orange body with a two fingered head on top. Sweet fruit taste is balanced well with a moderate bitter bite. Leans toward an English style IPA. Has a slick mouth feel. Faint warming sensation is the only clue to how strong this is. Drinkable and smooth.

3.4
rouhlas (5623) - Thessaloniki, GREECE - JAN 11, 2016
650 ml bottle at the Hoppy Pub, Thessaloniki. courtesy of Constantin. Hazy golden orange color with off white head. Malty and hoppy aroma, caramel, fruity, citrusy fruity, some alcohol. Sweet and bitter taste like aroma. Medium oily body with soft carbonation. It was an old bottle.

4
ExpendableHero (976) - Florida, USA - NOV 19, 2015
This was great stuff. Hazy orange/copper brew with a slightly off-white head. Aromas of piney hops. Tastes of pine hops, floral notes, biscuit malt, and caramel. Bittersweet hop finish. Excellent malt backbone really complements the hops. Perfectly balanced. Very good beer.

3.6
hotstuff (5394) - Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA - NOV 15, 2015
Rated on 6-19-2015. When poured, this bottled beer forms a medium sized creamy, smooth off-white head that mostly diminishes, hazy golden body, fizzy, lively, fast rising carbonation, and spotty amounts of lacing. The aroma is citrus, pine hops, musty, earthy, fruity, and boozy. The flavor is moderately bitter, citrus hops, earthy, sweet, and boozy. The mouthfeel is lively carbonation along with a warming sensation. This is a medium bodied. Overall, this IPA is very quaffable and is a sipping beer. This would be a good beer on a cold snowy day.

4.3
DanielBrown (4668) - Birmingham (via Leicester), West Midlands, ENGLAND - OCT 23, 2015
Birmingham Beer Bash 2015. Another outstanding keg hop pleasure. Super tangy and billious with green hop.


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