Guest beers: a Sahti and an Imperial IPA

We’ve got two more guest beers to discuss today.

First up, we have what looks like a new offering from New Belgium’s “Lips of Faith” series – at least I hadn’t seen it yet. This is Sahti, which is a traditional Finnish beer usually brewed with various spices, often with juniper. This particular beer was apparently brewed with orange and lemon peel, as well as juniper. At 7.2%abv, this beer is in the ballpark of a traditional Sahti, but the flavor profile wasn’t nearly as unique as the marketing implied. Few defects were apparent, but at the same time there wasn’t much to write home about either. It seemed moderately drinkable because of a relatively low bitterness and clean finish, but there wasn’t much in the flavor to latch on to; it was just a bit more boring than I’d expected. Not bad, just not great.

Hazy
Sweet
Meaty
Nutty
Smooth
Grainy
Ethyl acetate
Flat (low carbonation)
Thin
Low bitterness

The second beer we’ll briefly discuss is a new Imperial IPA from Pyramid Brewing called Outburst. Most of Pyramid’s beers haven’t ever excited me much, although I can enjoy their Curveball Kolsch when it’s available. Outburst took me a bit by surprise. Much of the harsh, bile-like bitterness in their Thunderhead IPA was fortunately not present in this beer. The hop aroma was nice and floral and resinous, there were some complexities in the malt-character, and enough alcohol to warm you up a bit. Overall, it was nicely balanced and a pleasant experience, although the higher bitterness and alcohol cuts the drinkability a bit. Our terms:

Tomato Vine
Diacetyl
Thick
Alcoholic
Salty
Floral
Hop resin
Grapefruit
Catty

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