Anchorage Brewing Company is one of the newer breweries to hit the market and definitely one of the more interesting breweries out there. The head brewer, Gabe Fletcher, left Midnight Sun in 2010 to start a new brewery with a focus on barrel aging and the use of brettanomyces. So far, Anchorage has bottled 6 beers, 2 of which I've been lucky enough to try. One of their newest releases is a beer called Galaxy White IPA.
First of all, this is one complex beer. Here's the description on the bottle:
"Ale brewed with Galaxy Hops, coriander, kumquats, and peppercorns. Fermented and aged in French oak foudres with a wit yeast. Dry hopped with Galaxy hop. Bottle conditioned with brettanomyces and wine yest."
Holy crap. This beer sounds awesome! A dry hopped white IPA that's bottle conditioned with brett??? Amazing! Time to check this one out.
Galaxy White IPA pours an incredibly hazy honey color with an absolutely beastly bone-white head that takes forever to recede and leaves big rings of lace down the glass. The smell is really complex, with notes of candied orange, juicy mandarin orange, a touch of oak, some nice barnyard funk, a bit of coriander and a touch of white pepper.
The taste opens with a bit of citrus sweetness, then moves towards a more bitter middle and finish. Grapefruit pith, brett and some biscuity malt all combine with some peppery hops to form a dry and lingering finish. Overall, I wouldn't say this was quite as good as Anchorage's Whiteout Wit, but it's still a brilliant beer. If you see this out there, don't hesitate to pick it up. It's one of the more interesting beers you'll find out there.
Final Grade: A-
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 37
My word that sounds good!
ReplyDeleteIt's really good stuff! I can't wait to see the next line of beers these guys come up with. Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDelete