Category Archives: Style: Pale Ale

Trillium Small Bird Series Pale Ale Pocket Pigeon and Tiny Chicken

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My cooler had room for one more 4-pack. Since we were there at Trillium, why not go back in for a variety of single cans? My selections? Scaled – 93 points, Secret Stairs (review to come) and two selections from Trillium Small Bird Series: Pocket Pigeon and Tiny Chicken. While the names in the series suggest diminutive ales, it refers to the lower ABV in each offering.

Trillium Small Bird Series Pocket Pigeon, Tiny Chicken

(C) 2017 popsonhops

Tiny Chicken
Tasting: July 23, 2017
Style: Pale Ale
Beer # 1,082
ABV: 5.6%

Tiny Chicken pecks away at your palette with a sturdy and hoppy punch. Made with a combination of Galaxy and Amarillo hops and out of the gate, it pops with bright citrus and a wisp of tropical fruit. In typical Trillium fashion, Tiny Chicken is soft around the edges and pithy. This beer does not offer much in the way of a base but that’s not its purpose. It’s a lawnmower beer meant for a summer’s day and a pretty good one at that – 90 points.

Pocket Pigeon
Tasting: July 26, 2017
Style: Pale Ale
Beer # 1,083
ABV: 5.4%

Pocket Pidgeon is made with Mosaic, Galaxy, and Columbus hops. Pours a hazy and golden color with a fresh juicy aroma. My first impression is that of a grilled pineapple. It’s dank smokey up front with some sweet pineapple. Also has some mellow orange rind and a dash of black tea. Nicely crisp finish. Pocket Pigeon rocks, 93 points. If you call this is a sessionable ale, then this is probably the best one I’ve had.

Visit the Trillium Website and their description of Tiny Chicken

Visit the Trillium Website and their description of Pocket Pigeon

Other beer in the Trillium small bird series:
Pipsqueak Penguin
Skimpy Sparrow
Itty Bitty Goose
Stumpy Duck
Little Rooster
Tree Creeper

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Equilibrium Fractal Citra Galaxy Hoptimization & Photon Citrus as well

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Equilibrium Fractal Citra Galaxy

Tasting: July 17, 2017
Style: American Pale Ale
Beer #: 1,079
ABV: 6.8%

Equilibrium Brewing, Fractal Citra Galaxy Middletown, NY

(C) 2017 popsonhops

This was an unexpected excursion on a hot summer afternoon. After dropping the boys off at Boy Scout camp my wife suggested that we check out some local hiking trails in the Dingman’s Ferry area. She knew I’d be tepid about the idea so she threw in, “Maybe we can hit a brewery in the area.” When Equilibrium popped up as a “brewery near me”, I was all in. After sweating my butt off for a few hours, we raced to the brewery in Middletown, NY in an attempt to make the growler fill deadline. As you can see, we made it and had a couple other beers just for unwinding.

If you go to Equilibrium Brewing.

The brewery seems centrally located and is across from the police station on Henry Street (be careful on your intake bruh). Ample parking on the silo side of the brewery. In the cooling down period of a summer evening, the garage door of the tasting room was wide open and the pleasant breeze washed away my sweaty afternoon. While growler fills ended at 6 p.m. on that Sunday, the tasting room remained open until 10 p.m. For hours, visit the brewery website.

They do serve food and we decided to stay for dinner. I’ll sum up our dining experience by saying the food was excellent but the service was painfully slow. So slow, they offered to comp our appetizer but in the end, they forgot the discount part (oh well). That was a minor ding on the overall experience.

Equilibrium Fractal Citra Galaxy.

Anyway, this blog is about beer not food service and onto the main event, Equilibrium Fractal Citra Galaxy. One of the definitions of a fractal is an object that displays self-similarity. Think of cutting snowflakes out of paper. In the case of this beer from Equilibrium, I believe a fractal applies to the base recipe as the similarity and the different hops as what makes it unique. There is are other hop versions of this beer and was thrilled that my timing included one of my favorites – Galaxy.

Equilibrium Fractal Citra Galaxy, Hoptimization, Photon Citrus

(C) popsonhops

Lighter straw color white wine grapes, fleshy orange, pithy and crisp dry finish. Really nice, 94 points.

Equilibrium Hoptimization:

Tasting: July 17, 2017
Style: American Double IPA
Beer #: 1,080
ABV: 8.5%

A hazy and beautiful looking beer. Wonderful up front with juicy orange, mango, and strawberry. Finish is a bit clunky acrid. Doesn’t detract, 92 points.

Equilibrium Photon Citrus:

Tasting: July 17, 2017
Style: American Pale Ale
Beer #: 1,081
ABV: 4.8%

I was caught a little off guard with Photon Citrus. My first sips were of ripe with banana and clove that I would associate with a farmhouse style. Took a while to acclimate to some pepper, grassy and citrus rind qualities of a pale ale. Very refreshing 88 points.

If you go with non-craft beer friends, they can go to the bar next door, Players for a Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Players, The bar next door to Equilibrium Brewing

(C) popsonhops

 

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Hecto Pale Ale Suarez Family Brewery

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Hecto Pale Ale by Suarez Family Brewery

(C) 2016 popsonhops

Tasting: December 30, 2016
Style: Pale Ale
Beer #: 1,037
ABV: 4.5%

Hecto Pale Ale by Suarez Family Brewing

Hecto Pale Ale by Suarez Family Brewery

(C) 2016 popsonhops

There are times when the sight (and availability) of a beer will send my brain a minor surprise shiver. I know. Geeky, right? This was the case at my discovery of Hecto on the tap list at the Growler & Gill in Rockland County. It’s a New York State beer (Livingston) so that shouldn’t surprise me. It was the back story that gave me a tingle.

You see, Dan Suarez was a brewer at Vermont’s legendary Hill Farmstead brewery since the brewery’s inception. Suarez is considered to be like-minded in comparison to Hill Farmstead’s founder, Shaun Hill. When it was announced that Suarez was leaving Hill Farmstead to open his own brewery, it had people conjuring up a similar beer trajectory as his former employer. Suarez Family Brewery opened in June of 2016 and even the remote location, pastoral setting and beer styles have people like me planning a trip. Anyway, I hope this is just the first of many beers I’ll get to try from Suarez Family Brewery.

First sips of Hecto Pale Ale are breadish and very mellow. Have to remind myself that this is a 4.5% ABV. The flavor and complexity build sip after sip. Polished, pithy. Some lingering bitterness and astringency. Most of the flavor rolls in on the back end of the palette. A nice, refreshing pale ale, 90 points for Hecto.

Visit Suarez Family Brewery Facebook Page

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Hop Hands & Grey Oblivion by Tired Hands Brewing

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Tired Hands Hop Hands & Grey Oblivion

(C) 2016 popsonhops

I love traveling friends that like beer as much as I do. My friend Dan spent his spring break mostly in South Carolina and he and his family meandered their way back north. His wife is a Villanova alum and they made the campus one of their stops. I don’t think Dan minded the stop as he knew that Tired Hands Brewing Company was located just a few miles from the university. He stopped by my house with a couple of growlers in tow and we exchanged stories of our spring vacations over a couple of glasses of beer.

Hop Hands
Tasting: April 11, 2016
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 4.8%
Beer #:919

Description from the Brewery:
Our Exceedingly Aromatic Pale Ale. Brewed with oats and hopped with a blend of Amarillo, Simcoe, and Centennial.

Pale straw in color, cloudy for sure. I get white wine grapes and mellow bitterness of tangerine. Smooth mouthfeel. This is certainly an easy drinking well-balanced beer. It might lack the juiciness of other northeast pale ales but I’ll put Hop Hands at a respectable 89 points.

Grey Oblivion
Tasting: April 10, 2016
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.0%
Beer #: 920

Again from the brewery:
Double IPA brewed with a touch of high dried malt. Hopped aggressively with Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe. Conditioned on heaps of black berry purée and cracked black peppercorn. Deep and soul crushing.

If you didn’t tell me about the black berry puree I wouldn’t have noticed. Zeroing in you can pick it up. The spicy peppercorn mixes well with a earthy hop. All in all a nice Imperial IPA – 89 points.

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