Lingering cool nights keeps Peaks and Pints focused on gut-warming beers, but with the arrival of daylight savings time, there are tempting perennial favorites and new craft beers to bait our palates away from winter’s bigger and bolder brews. Daylight saving time is a providential gift, and an hour of your time is a more-than-fair sacrifice to Helios. Grab a little spring with Craft Beer Crosscut 3.12.17: A Flight of Daylight Savings Time.
Midnight Sun Snowshoe White
4.8% ABV, 12 IBU
Modeled after a Belgian witbier, Midnight Sun’s annual specialty is designed to be an easy-drinking, quenching smooth sipper. It also has a little bit of a tang provided by the addition of coriander and bitter Curacao orange peel to the brew kettle during the beer’s initial boil. Midnight Sun’s version of the Belgian witbier is customized to the Alaskan palate and features a large percentage of malted wheat in the mash and a combination of the Midnight Sun house yeast and a little bit of one of the Belgian strains they use in their upscale line of Belgian beers. Even a big nose like ours is rewarded with the elements of citrus, coriander and slight earth and grain tones that entice the sense seven before the first swallow. We taste coriander right up front on the palate, followed by the orange and citrus elements, but it’s not overpowering, so the wheat and malt characters easily follow through, and the Belgian yeast strain struts its stuff with some clove and fruity character as well.
New Belgium Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale
5.5% ABV, 32 IBU
As part of New Belgium Brewing Co.’s revamping efforts this year, and there are plenty of changes, Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale is the lightest of the lot. Yes, the skeleton ranger on the label is all smiles over the eight mystery hops in this craft beer, but there’s plenty on the malt side to keep things balanced. Although it smells like mango, it hits the tongue with mostly pine, some citrus rind and plenty of hop bitterness on the backend.
Lagunitas 12th of Never Ale
5.5% ABV, 45 IBU
Named after Lagunitas’ founder Tony Magee’s statement about swearing to be the last small brewer to can beers this pale ale’s persistent, fluffy white head unleashes bold aromatic waves of tropical papaya and mango ringed by just a hint of catty hops. The flavor follows, a moderate balance of cracker-like malts that pave the way for bright melon, papaya and grassy hop tones. Bitterness is a touch elevated for the style, but it makes for an enjoyable, clean finish.
No-Li Big Juicy
6.15% ABV, 55 IBU
At 55 IBUs and 6.15 percent ABV, No-Li Brewhouse’s Big Juicy is practically sessionable compared to traditional West Coast IPAs. Featuring the nectarous symphony of Citra, El Dorado, Azacca and Belma Hops, Big Juicy is just dripping with citrus and tropical flavors. Belma? Indeed — one of the newest varieties, punches up the flavor with sweet orange, nectarous pineapple and rare hints of vine-ripe strawberries. Azacca represent with a tropical storm of spicy mango and juicy tangerine, adding in a touch of piney bitter. El Dorado and Citra push the nose to fruity extremes.
Uinta Detour Double IPA
9.5% ABV, 95 IBU
Some brewery names — like Uinta Brewing Co. out of Salt Lake City one — can be hard to navigate for first-time drinkers. Uinta sounds exactly like you might think. Let’s all say it together: “You-In-Ta.” Peaks and Pints thought we’d end this flight on an aggressive note. A sturdy malt backbone of caramel and toast supports bold hop flavor: Pine, grapefruit, pepper and orange swell into the swallow. As you stare out the window to the South Sound’s gray sky, dank pine notes enrich the hop profile before a bitter wave leaves the tongue pleasantly dry.
