Crop Circle Beer

This contract brew was at Brewtopia. It is brewed currently at Blue Point in Patchogue, NY, on Long Island. The ads feature alien bartenders, which weren’t that creative but I got a kick out of them. The beer is a dark amber ale, served bright. The aroma has a slight cherryish note, and a few toasty malts. The palate is clean, slightly syrupy, with a few scattered orange notes. Fairly well-balanced, leaning slightly more to the malt, but with enough bitterness to be taken seriously. I know a contract-brewed amber ale doesn’t sound good on paper, but it’s worth checking out.

On tap at Brewtopia 2004... Crystal clear, burnt orange ale with a small, creamy, beige head. The nose is both floral and chocolatey. The flavor is of milk chocolate. Well-bittered for balance. Medium-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Chocolatey, nutty, moderately bitter finish. Me likes!

Pours red with a pinkish head. Smells of caramel, some nutty hints, some sugar. Tastes sweet and malty with a vegetal finish.

Tap at the Brickhouse. Amber coloured beer with a thick off-white head. Served way too cold, as are most of the beers at Brickhouse. Aroma is very light and fruity, apples, white grapes, pear. Pale malt and a kiss of nuttiness, no toast and no crystal. Flavour is okay as well, loads of fruity esters and pale malt with a touch of alcoholic heat. Fairly thin-bodied and well-attenuated. The esters are pleasant enough but it’s not as good as it could be. Needs more malt character and the hops could be bumped up a bit too. Feels like a fairly boozy amber ale.

Bottle. High white creamy and lasting head. Clear yellow body. Barley malt aroma. Sweet, smooth and mild barley malt flavor without much hops bitterness, carbonation or aftertaste. The malt aftertaste is there but generally this beer will soon be forgotten.

Poured a clear deep cooper color with a small off-white head that quickly diminishes. The aroma is a little thick with nutty, toasty and roasty notes. Strong honey notes as the beer warmed. Some sweetness with a light fruit quality. The flavor had a lightly roasted malt. The flavor was mouthfilling with malt. A moderate bitterness and CO2 tingle on the semi-dry finish. Medium bodied for the most part.

Bottle. Pours an amber body with a finger white head. Aroma and flavor is sweet toasted malt, and caramel. This is not very good, even for an amber ale.

Found a 4 pack of bottles at Shoreline yesterday. Pours a deep ruby amber with a thin off white head. Aroma is skewed way off to the crystal malt side, and not much of any hop character. Sweetish, caramel flavors, almost sharp, with a toasted almond hint in the aroma and flavor. Relativley clean with a slight slick finish. I would have liked more hops in this, but it was still decent.