Carton Brewing Company
SS Yirgacheffe Imperial Pale Ale ("Need A Bigger Boat" Series)
American Pale Ale
New Jersey
8.4%
16oz, 4-Pack
$15.99
Credible finger plus head, eggshell white in color, enough density to retain a full surface coating for some time, in turn the lacing forms broad if stubby streaks. Coppery hued liquid, nice brightness with more yellow tinged rims, close to zero visible carbonation. As expected, the nose dominated by bitter coffee notes, if you manage to get past these it delivers lemon peel, meadow grasses and pine sap, the relentlessness of the coffee smothers any fruit aromas. Full-bodied, creamy and rich, the carbonation adding to an expansive fluffiness. More room here for the herbaceousness to blossom and it's more floral and citrusy as well. Something more like oats or grains than doughiness or breadiness. The peach, apricot to papaya fruit flavors surface now and then. However, even while to a lesser extent than in the nose, that coffee can be punishing at times. A roasty bitterness trumps any grassy bite and brings with it bitter dark chocolate notes. In the final analysis it's more than just a goof or curiosity but it could use more balance among the constitutive parts to really excel.
3 out of 5