Hello and welcome back to the Eternal Hopimists,
Its a story thats becoming far to familiar these days, another Brewery has had to close its doors, this time its Alphabet Brewing Co.
Sam visited Alphabet Brewing Co (ABC) late last year, and we were planning a full coverage and interview with them later this year. But, alas we were a little too slow!
Regardless, we feel its important to release our thoughts on the beers we have, and keep our fingers and toes crossed that we will see them return, be it as ABC or in the form of another brewery.
In the meantime, please make sure that you support your local breweries, they really need your support at this time! In fact go to their website or taphouse now, and get some of their delicious beer, I can wait…
Alphabet Brewing Co, Not Another Pink Beer – 4.5% ABV
1. Hops : Not specified
2. Grain : Barley, Spelt, Oats & Wheat
3. Aroma : Very interesting aroma. Firstly the characteristics of a traditional farmhouse beer are evident and then the peppercorn aroma cuts through. Based upon aroma alone you can pre-empt that this is a cleverly brewed beer.
4. Appearance : Pours a light straw colour with a dissipating fluffy one finger white head
5. Body : Light to medium body with a pleasant mouthfeel.
6. Taste : WOW….this is certainly a beer that wakes the palate up, in a good way! The farmhouse style notes are certainly there and are the initial thing that you taste and then you get a smack of the peppercorn which takes over the tastebuds and lingers before subsiding when the farmhouse notes work alongside. At no point does this seem unbalanced as both aspects complement each other well.
was very curious with this when I received the can and approached it not knowing whether I would enjoy it or not. I can honestly say that Not Another Pink Beer exceeded my expectations and proved to be a very enjoyable experience indeed.
I ought to add that this is another can that is very appealing on the eye as Alphabet Brewing Company has once again pulled out the stops to create another great can design. Bravo to the design team!
I think that Not Another Pink Beer will not appeal to everyone as some may recoil once the peppercorn flavours hit the palate, but I found them to add to the overall farmhouse flavours and I thought they worked very well and proved to be well balanced. I certainly enjoyed this and if presented with another my response will certainly not be ‘Not another pink beer’ it will be more oooohhhh, please can I have another pink beer. Very, different and very enjoyable.
Mark’s Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, Not Another – 5.0% ABV
1. Hops : Mosaic
2. Grain : Malted Barley, Wheat & Oats
3. Aroma : Blackcurrent & stoned fruit, with a twist of citrus
4. Appearance : Slightly hazed, plummish amber with no head.
5. Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated no head retention
6. Taste : slightly peppered red stoned fruits, with a sweet wash of citrus and a hop twist, finishing in a dark fruitaftertaste.
This was a crisp and refreshing, tipple, definitley sessionable at 5%, and it tastes pretty much the way it says on the tin. Like Mark said about beer before, the can designs are spot on, they are neat and eye-catching this one is a clear inpirational parody of Bruce Wayne / Batman as Juice Wayne, a crime fighting Juice Box!
Sam’s Rating: 3.8/ 5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, A Proper Shootout – 4.0% ABV
1. Hops : East Kent, Goldings
2. Grain : Malted Barley
3. Aroma : Strong scent of dark roasted coffee with a treacle backing.
4. Appearance : Dark Black in colour, good white head when poured
5. Body : A little thin, with modest carbonation but poor head retention.
6. Taste : A deep dark treacle mouthful with a charcoal smokey finish with a hint of coffee and dryness towards the end.
This is a good example of a session style dry stout, not bad at all it really packs in the flavour despite its 4% ABV. I also like the other have to mention the fantastic can design, it really embues an atmospheric scene, and it is certainly an atmospheric beer!
John’s Rating : 3.6/ 5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, Juice Springsteen – 4.5% ABV
1. Hops : Not specified
2. Grain : Barley, Wheat & Yeast
3. Aroma : Light tropical notes giving off a subtle yet clean aroma.
4. Appearance : Pours a hazy straw colour with no head whatsoever. I’ll be honest in saying that it is not the most appealing on the eye.
5. Body : Thin body with very light mouthfeel
6. Taste : Promises lots of juicy, tropical flavours but these prove more subtle than expected. The vast amounts of tropical fruits are pretty well balanced but somewhat lack that punchiness that I was hoping to find.
I’ll be honest in saying that I am finding these beers with names based upon celebrities a little tiresome as it seems that there are so many out there at the minute. Alphabet Brewing Company though has designed appealing can art that looks good on the eye and features a few references to ‘The Boss’ with plays on several of his song titles so I will let them off on the name as it is all about the taste after all.
When it comes to the taste, I will admit to being a touch disappointed as I had heard quite a bit about this beer so was perhaps expecting a little more. What I found to be a bit underwhelming was the tropical flavours as the can promises more than what it delivers with the guava, mango, passion fruit, mandarin and pineapple much more subtle rather than the full-on punch that I was expecting.
It is certainly a crisp and clean beer with a fruity base that is ultimately refreshing and will make a decent session beer on a warm day. It just did not blow me away, however I would be willing to give this another go, be it can or keg, as I feel that there could be more to this than what I encountered on this occasion.
Mark’s Rating : 2.9/5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, Haze Craze – % ABV
1. Hops : Azacca, Galaxy, Citra, Vic Secret
2. Grain : Malted Barley, Oats & Wheat
3. Aroma : Sweet mouthwatering peach with a mellow hopped undertone.
4. Appearance : An opaque dirty pineapple colour with a good tightt white head when poured.
5. Body : Medium to full bodied, well carbonated and good head retention.
6. Taste : Good hopped flavour with a strong peach and citra support leaving a dry aftertaste and a tingle on the tongue.
I was not a big lover of this one at the first mouthful, but it grew on me the more I had. It’s got plenty of fruit flavours, and it packs a bit of a hop punch too. If you font like dry beers though this is one to avoid, otherwise it gets a big thumbs up from me.
John’s Rating : 3.7/5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, Canarinho! Mango Pale Ale (4.5% ABV)
1.Hops : Columbus
2.Grain : Malted barley and wheat
3.Aroma : Mango and tropical fruits
4.Appearance : Orange, opaque but produced no real head
5.Body : Medium bodied, medium carbonated but no head retention
6.Taste : A fruity start with mango, but not sweet, more mellow then a slight tartness and dry finish. Had a bit of a metallic ‘canned’ tang to the aftertaste
This was quite a surprise. I was anticipating a fruit juice like thickness, but instead it was normal beer consistency and perhaps because of this less smooth in the mouth that what I expected. The mango flavours came through but were more subtle than many similar beers. Using Columbus hops was an interesting choice as these only came through with a slight peppery spiciness in the finish. A pleasant easy drinking beer.
Peters rating: 3.6/ 5.0
Alphabet Brewing Co, The Dragons, Cherry Pale Ale – 4.5% ABV
1. Hops : Columbus, & Cascade
2. Grain : Malted Barley & Wheat
3. Aroma : Sweet cherry and hop tones.
4. Appearance : Slightly Hazed to clear, Light Cherry red with a tight film head when poured.
5. Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated no head retention
6. Taste : A beer-y cherry bakewell like flavour, sweet cherry hop forward.
Now I love me a cherry bakewell, both the traditional kind and the more modern iced ones, this one is more akin to the iced version than the traditional one. Its sweet, flavourful and very very morish and thankfully as its only a 4.5% ABV you can have two or four more if you want to push the boat out.
Sam’s Rating: 4.1/5.0
Alphabet Brewing Company A to the K (5.6% ABV)
1. Hops : Columbus & Mosaic
2. Grain : Barley Oats & Yeast
3. Aroma : Punchy, juicy, tropical nose
4. Appearance : Light hazy straw colour with a dissipating one finger white head
5. Body : Light to medium body with the addition of oats adding a nice creaminess to the mouthfeel
6. Taste : Tropical aroma translates well to the taste giving a lingering, juicy flavour on the palate that proves extremely moreish. Hop combination works well as does the addition of oats into the brew which adds a creaminess to the slightly dry and bitter finish.
Even before I poured this I was drawn to the can art as I am with just about every beer from Alphabet Brewing Company. A to the K depicts a cartoon horse in full army uniform wielding a machine gun (Ak 47 I presume to tie in with the beer name). This certainly proves eye-catching as does the beer in the glass as it is poured.
A to the K is described as ‘stupidly crushable’ and who am I to argue as it certainly is. This is exactly what I was hoping for with this beer as the Columbus and Mosaic hop combination works very well indeed giving a lingering juicy tropical flavour that is not only crushable but extremely sessionable. The brewery have added to this by using oats in the brew and this is a clever move as it adds a lovely layer of creaminess to proceedings making this a very palatable beer indeed.
I could easily enjoy a few cans (or even pints) of this as it a very moreish beer. At 5.6% abv it could prove to be a little dangerous as it slips down well and before you know it you are ready to refill your glass with another.
I have often heard the phrase ‘standard American pale’ used and this has me shaking my head as it is a style of beer that when done well proves to be very enjoyable and one that I could go to on a regular basis. Alphabet Brewing Company’s A to the K is indeed a fine example of the style and believe me when you sample it yourself you will soon understand that this is far from standard stuff!
Mark’s overall rating: 3.9/ 5.0
ABC – Paulo Onehop DDH Citra IPA (6.2% ABV)
As you will know by now, we love a pun and great artwork at T|E|H Towers, this beer has both!
The pun is Paulo César Wanchope Watson, better known as Paulo Wanchope the Costa Rican international footballer who played for Manchester city when they had just returned to the Premier League after the dark days of the late 1990s. Recognition for a player with a bit of a cult status, perhaps. The artwork is a cartoon of the man himself kicking a very large hop. Love it.
A double dry hopped Citra IPA is a very much a beer of the moment, but will it score with us?
- Hops : Citra
- Grain : Malted barley, wheat and oats
- Aroma : Citrusy, fresh and ‘green’
- Appearance : A lemon yellow hue, bright but not quite fluorescent, opaque with a white head
- Body : Full bodied, medium carbonated but the head retention was disappointing
- Taste : Initially fruity, strong citrus as would be expected from the hops, and a dry distinctly bitter finish
- Dietary restrictions : Allergens highlighted
A very nice hoppy proper strength IPA.
Our overall rating: 3.8/ 5.0
And that brings us to the end of our look at Alphabet Brew Co, we are saddened by your closure, but you will forever live in our memories and beer bellies!
“To the regiment!…”
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 