Square One Anniversary Ale

Brewed by Square One Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
St. Louis, Missouri USA

On tap at Square One Brewpub, third anniversary edition. Cloudy golden yellow with a medium off-white topper that leaves moderate traces of lace. Aroma of yeast, lemon, spice, mild citrus, grassy hops and toasted malt. Taste of fruit, yeast, alcohol and citrus with a mild hoppy and dry finish that’s a bit spicy. Moderate carbonation makes this one go down pretty easy.

From the tap, served at cellar temperature in a pint glass, the bartender told me this has every thrown in, all the malts and hops used during the first year of operation, I forgot to ask about the yeast. Poured a malty dark brown with a nice foamy pale tan head, decent retention, small amount of laced sticking. Aromas of sweet tangerines with a citric-banana fruitiness and roasted malts, sweet cocoa and coffee. Good carbonation and a crisp, slightly slick, a little roughness, but smooth enough, medium bodied mouthfeel. A mix-mash of flavors, tangerine sweet, clove and bananas, citric with a touch of berry fruitiness, cocoa and nutty coffee, a pinch of sugar, earthy, the alcohol is way in the background, but noticeable at the end, and a herbal, tobacco bitter finish. This reminded me of a homebrew a friend made using lager malts and hops, then top fermented with Belgian yeast, except in this bittering, blending hops are also part of the recipe. An interesting beer, but also a mess, the flavors don’t blend together, each seems to be looking for a place to stand out in the taste, worth trying once, if for nothing more than to play "name that flavor" in this anniversary ale.

There is something strange going on at Square One brewery. For some reason all of their beers have similar profiles: They are either citrusy or otherwise strange-fruity, and many of them exhibit qualites of malting traditionally found in scotch ales. I am not sure what is going on here, but it is really different, and I am undecided on how much I like it. I guess it depends on their beer. This one poured a dark amber with a strange aroma of light fruit. Taste-wise, I got a lot of blueberry. It was enjoyable, but strange.

On tap at the brewpub. Poured dark brown with a medium brown head. This one was a bit of an oddball. The aroma and flavor didn’t match the appearance, but it was still tasty. Aroma was sweet citrus notes. (grapefruit and lemon) Flavor was tangy grapefruit, starfruit, and some sort of sour candy, perhaps a warhead. Finish was a bitter blue raspberry. Very odd flavor profile, but still a good beer.

Pours very dark brown with a soapy tan head. The aroma has pineapple, grapefruit and thick sweet malt - quite bold. Medium body with light spritzy carbonation. Flavors start with heavily roasted malt and what seems like simcoe hops. There is some spice, tropical fruits, traces of char and coffee. It has a lighter body than normal for the flavors involved. The finish has spicy hops and some funk I can’t put my finger on. A unique beer that’s that’s worth ordering a pint.