Okay, I’m off with my first two beers for review. I have to say that this is going to be a bit of an evolution to my process and documentation, so don’t throw too many arrows. The first round is a pair of India Pale Ales from two well respected and prosperous breweries: Carolina Brewery and Mother Earth Brewing, located in Pittsboro and Kinston, NC respectively. Today we get a taste of Carolina’s Flagship IPA and Mother Earth’s Sisters of the Moon.
Right off the bat there is a noticeable difference between these two, even before seeing the beer; the packaging. Sisters of the Moon is in your traditional craft beer long-neck brown 12 ounce glass bottle. Good. Flagship, on the other hand, is moved in the ever more present 12 ounce can. Great. I’m not going to get into much discussion on differences between the two packaging styles other than to say that cans are popping up in more and more craft brewery all time. I like that cans prevent UV light from reaching our prized ales, but I wished to see a “bottled on” or “best before” date on the can, just as I found on Mother Earth printed label:
Okay, beyond the details of transport vessel, let’s look at my tasting notes for these two North Carolina brews…
Beer Name: Flagship IPA
Beer Style: English IPA, 14A.
Brewery: Carolina Brewery
Price/Packaging: $1.99/12oz can
Appearance: Orange-red-amber color, lots of particulates afloat; head was little-quick, white.
Smell: Orange peel, zesty, mild citrus hops, sweet malts.
Taste: nice citrus, blood-orange, with good maltiness for support. Cascade hops.
Mouthfeel: medium, low body.
Overall: Good to style, English IPA = East Coast IPA. 84.
Beer Name: Sisters of the Moon IPA
Beer Style: American IPA, 14B.
Brewery: Mother Earth Brewing
Price/Packaging: $1.99/12oz bottle
Appearance: Golden orange; head is nice white, quick, good carbonation.
Smell: Candied orange slices, gummy bears, soft, round citrus.
Taste: Maltiness is balanced, but definitely secondary to good, bittering hops. More pronounced grapefruit in finish, clean.
Mouthfeel: medium-low, crisp.
Overall: Good beer, representative of style, nice hop presence, will drink again. 86.5.
My hat’s off to both breweries for crafting such good beers, however, Mother Earth is definitely my preference with those Sisters leaning heavier on the hops and that crisp bitterness finishing so clean, asking for more.
Cheers.
Brewing in North Carolina 