Untied Brewing single hop India Pale Ales series : A Hop That Needs No Introduction Motueka
Continuing with the Hop That Needs No Introduction series from my favorite local brewery, Untied Brewing Company, [ https://wineinamerica.wordpress.com/?s=untied ] another single hop IPA that they released recently, brewed solely with Motueka hops.
New England style IPA, 7.1% vol.
Untied Brewing single hop India Pale Ales series : A Hop That Needs No Introduction Motueka
Bright golden yellow with thick whitish foam, slightly cloudy.
Nose : very fruity, tropical and yellow fruits, lime and citrus. Very pleasant nose.
In mouth : fruity and soft, well rounded. A delight ! This is another excellent one. Yellow fruits , tropical fruits more on the yellow fruits side (peach, apricot), plus some citrus, mainly lime. Not bitter at all at first. Some bitterness comes in the after mouth along with a grapefruit after taste with some herbal notes.
Untied Brewing Company Just for Kicks Imperial India Pale Ale
Another Imperial IPA from my local and favorite brewery, Untied Brewing Company that they released last October (2020). I tasted it back then and never published the review. So I revisited it last week with some cans I had stocked up because we liked it a lot. And yes it keeps for that long, no problem.
Actually they wanted to brew the popular Knucklehead Hall of Fame [read here for my review, it’s one of their best Imperial IPAs : https://wineinamerica.wordpress.com/2021/08/15/untied-brewing-company-knucklehead-hall-of-fame-imperial-india-pale-ale/ ] but as they changed one of the hops they also got a new name for this variation. Here is what they say : « We wanted to make another batch of Knucklehead Hall of fame, but just for kicks we changed one of the hops in the beer. When we use a new hop combination, the beer generally gets a new name so this week we are releasing Just for Kicks! This beer is an Imperial New England IPA ».
Double IPA, 8.3% vol.
Cloudy golden yellow with thick beige foam.
Nose : extremely pleasant, fruity, flowery, tropical and yellow fruits mainly (apricots, peaches).
In mouth : tropical fruit, lime, yellow fruits mainly peaches and apricots. Very rounded and soft to the palate. No agressive notes. All smooth and rounded, just excellent !
Untied Brewing Company Just for Kicks Imperial India Pale Ale
Then in 2020 Johnnie Walker released a special edition for Women’s Rights Day, called Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker. It was actually their second iteration in the Jane Walker series started in 2018. I tasted it around that time in the spring 2020 but never got to publish the review. So I revisited it tonight as I updated my notes to publish the review.
This is a special and limited original blend, blended by a woman of course, their master blender Emma Walker.
41.9% vol, aged 10 years.
Jane Walker Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
I didn’t taste it in my Impitoyable whisky glass this time but still in a proper whisky glass from La Maison du Whisky in Paris. As usual no ice for the tasting per se, I added the ice after to enjoy my drink once I had finished with tasting and taking notes.
Bright golden in glass, very limpid, not different in color and appearance from any blended whisky.
Nose is smoky, malt, smells « dry », a hint of caramel in the background.
In mouth, very smoky, vanilla, bitter (more bitter than their other ones), powerful and rich. Also some fruit notes.
Different from the Red and the Black in my memory, it would be my second favorite with the Double Black. My favorite of all being the Platinum 18 years old (or Gold as they call it now).
More smoke, caramel and vanilla in the after taste with a rounded finale and some fruits again.
Very well done, it is worth buying and having in the collection.
« Hey knuckleheads » has been another of our governor catch phrases during the 2020 spring months, when he was referring to those who didn’t want to follow directions regarding Covid safety, he called them knuckleheads. Thus the name of the beer. An article in the local newspaper was released about that new beer and the nod to the governor of New Jersey. He gave also his stamp of approval to this one and hopped to be able to stop by to try it in person — depending on his safety ordinances of course.
Untied Brewing Company Knucklehead Hall of Fame Imperial India Pale Ale
As with the Data Determine Dates, I kept one empty can and flattened it and put it in the frame with the other one, as a memorabilia for this crazy year of 2020.
This one was released beginning of September 2020 and I tasted it shortly after the release but never published the review. However they released it again this summer 2021 and I revisited it tonight before finally publishing the review (spoiler : same impression and tasting notes, this is one of their best double IPAs).
New England style Imperial India Pale Ale, 8.3% vol.
Very cloudy, opaque, dark yellow with thick yellowy foam.
A very perfumed scent of tropical fruits was present just while pouring the beer in the glass.
Nose : tropical fruits, mango, yellow fruits (peach and apricot). A very powerful nose, very pleasant to smell the glass.
In mouth : very round and sweet but not in the sense of sugary. An explosion of yellow and tropical fruits including passion fruit. Some oat plus wheat cereal notes at the end. The main tropical fruit note is passion fruit. Some citrus notes are present also (lime and grapefruit but more lime than grapefruit).
My son loved it too, one of his favorites as well.
A very rounded and balanced beer. Absolutely delicious. I stoked up again when they re-released it earlier this summer. I hope that they will make it a core beer that they will produce on a regular and on going schedule with their other core beers.
This Rioja wine comes in a special bottle wrapped with jute fabric so the bottle is easily recognizable on the store shelves. I tasted it very recently. Vintage 2018, under cork, 14.5% vol.
Rioja Siglo Tempranillo 2018 – Spain
Bright red with thin pale red rim and long regular legs.
Nose : leather, wood, vanilla, tannins, varnish, fruit ester, alcohol, pencil lead.
In mouth : rather acidic, acid red fruits, not much structure nor tannins when I tasted it right out of the bottle. It might need some airtime. I would consider it as a light red except for the alcohol content (14.5% vol). Indeed some warmth in mouth after a couple of sips (the alcohol). Then some wood and vanilla start to appear. Sour cherry, vinaigrette and a slight bitterness as an after mouth.
I would qualify it as a light or medium body wine, more on the lighter side regarding its structure but with a high alcohol content that has not mellowed nor chilled yet.
Not bad but one can feel the alcohol while tasting and drinking. I would prefer more subdued alcohol or at least melted / balanced with the sugar or the acidity so it doesn’t feel like it’s 14.5% vol.
Good, I will drink it and finish the bottle but there are better Rioja options in that price range ($11 here at my usual wine store, Stirling Fine Wines, in New Jersey).
I had it again the following day, thinking it would have benefited from some airtime but I found the same. It may need actually a couple more years in the bottle and be revisited then.
Rioja Siglo Tempranillo 2018 – SpainRioja Siglo Tempranillo 2018 – Spain
Reviewing now the Apothic Merlot. 13.5% vol. Vintage 2019.
Bright and translucent, rather pale red leaning towards pink / purple. Medium pinkish rim, small irregular legs.
Apothic Merlot California 2019
Nose : red fruit, vanilla, jam, blackberry, blackcurrant, the jam version of those fruits, jam and cooked fruits, leather and wood.
Mouth : vanilla, velvety, cooked fruits, silky. Excellent at first sip, it’s love at first sip with this wine ! Black fruits in the middle mouth such as blackcurrant and blackberry but cooked and jammy. Some red fruits too. But jammy indeed. Some bitterness and mellowed tannins in middle mouth and a nice acidity too.
Gives a sweet impression (or soft maybe ? ) without being sugary nor being a sweet wine per se, so certainly the proper word would rather be « soft ». Vanilla and wood as after taste, then a velvety and silky final impression.
This wine is absolutely delicious !
I didn’t fancy too much their cab so I wasn’t expecting much of this one (no high hopes), being afraid it would be sweet also. I am glad I tried it because I like it as much as their delicious red blends (red, crush, dark and inferno) that I have been drinking for years. It will join the gang of the 4 other Apothic (the red blends) that I keep at the ready on my wine rack.
Apothic Merlot California 2019Apothic Merlot California 2019
Untied Brewing Company 16oz Curls, Watermelon Wheat Ale
This is the first time my local brewery brews some wheat ale. I was pretty excited because I enjoy wheat ales (also called white ales) the most usually, though now I enjoy IPAs as much or even more.
Wheat ale 4.5% vol. They call it watermelon wheat ale because it has been conditioned on watermelon instead of the usual coriander (or spices as in Hoegaarden’s wheat beer’s case : https://wineinamerica.wordpress.com/2021/05/23/hoegaarden-white-beer/ ) and orange peel (or lemon peel).
Untied Brewing Company 16oz Curls, Watermelon Wheat Ale
Pale yellow, cloudy with thin white foam.
Nose : definitely watermelon, malt, ferments, yeasts, citrus.
In mouth : very fresh and crisp, definitely heavy on the watermelon side but also the typical wheat beer taste with wheat malt and yeasts. I like it a lot but would prefer it a tad less watermelony. After several sips I recognize the yellow watermelon type instead of the red one I was expecting. That yellow watermelon is leaning a bit towards cantaloupe melon, at least for me because I don’t like cantaloupe melon taste at all. I do like the red watermelon a lot, the yellow one far less.
I found that the yellow watermelon has a green taste to it which I don’t really fancy and this beer is definitely on the yellow watermelon side with those green notes rather prevalent. It’s very refreshing but a tad too much for my taste, I would have preferred the more subtle red watermelon taste.
Untied Brewing Company 16oz Curls, Watermelon Wheat Ale
Wine in America 