On
those very rare occasions when I’m not drinking beer, I am partial to gin. So when I found out about theMobcraft Sippin’ on G&J
release I was, to put it lightly, intrigued.
A few years back I tried a gin and tonic beer released by Shorts Brewing
at the Great American Beerfest, and other than the rare gin barrel aged beer
from Vintage Brewing I haven’t seen a gin beer since. Fortunately Mobcraft was there with a gin
beer for my enjoyment.
If you
are unfamiliar with Mobcraft Beer, they have a unique business model, leaving a
majority of their beer releases up to the beer buying public. Almost every new Mobcraft batch begins as a
recipe concept submitted to the Mobcraft Beer website. This beer, batch 22 was submitted by Taylor
Rucks of Madison, WI. The submitted recipes are then pitted against each
other in a competition to find out which beer will receive the most pre-orders
through the Mobcraft website. Because Mobcraft is reliant upon customer
feedback for the creation of its next release, there have been quite a few
interesting one-off beers in their short history, a trend that is sure to
continue.
On to the review.
They Say:
RECIPE
DETAILS
Scaled down
so you can brew your own 5 gallon batch.
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS
·
4oz Crushed Juniper Berries –Secondary
YEAST
·
Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale
MALT BILL
·
11.5lbs Two Row Malt
·
1.5lbs Munich Malt
·
1.5lbs Crystal 20L
BOIL TIME – 60 minutes
HOP REGIMEN
·
1oz Cascade @ 60
·
.25oz Citra @ 30
·
.25oz Mosaic @ 30
·
.5oz Cascade @ 30
·
1oz Citra @ 15
·
1oz Mosaic @ 15
·
1oz Cascade @ 15
·
1oz Galaxy @ 15
GRAVITY - 1.076/1.012
IBU - 82
ABV - 8.5%
I Say:
Sippin’ on G&J pours a hazy
orange-ish copper. A thick, creamy white
head with a rocky cap sits atop the glass holding excellent retention (5+
minutes), and leaves heavy lacing behind in the glass with each sip. Strong juniper notes lead in the aroma,
wonderfully representing gin, with citrusy hops standing in for the juice. With the diverse hops used for the 15 min
addition in the homebrew version of the recipe, you would probably be expecting
a complex hop aroma and you would be right. Orange and ruby red grapefruit hop aromas
bound out of the glass and go from being overshadowed by the juniper berries to
moving to the forefront as the brew warms.
As in the aroma, juniper leads
in the flavor when the beer is still cold from the fridge. While it warms, the red grapefruit and orange
notes become increasingly prominent. The
juniper and citrus fruit flavors mingle remarkably well, creating a complex
flavor that even the Snoop D-O-double-G would love to sip on as he rolled down
the street with his mind on his money and his money on his mind. As the G&J continues to warm to room
temperature the citrus hop flavors are dominant although the underlying piney
juniper notes remain. The citrusy hops
take on a note of grapefruit peel on the back end, although the lingering
aftertaste is almost exclusively a deliciously gin-like juniper berry flavor. Sippin’ on G&J has a moderately high hop
bitterness which aids in the perception of citric tartness and a low level of
maltiness combined with juniper berries which enhance the perception of gin. With a moderately light body and a moderately
high carbonation, the mouthfeel is similar to a gin with the mouth cleansing
carbonation of a gin and tonic.
Sippin’ on G&J is not your
typical beer but it never claims to be.
With the combination of juniper berries and citrusy hops, this beer goes
a long way towards simulating a well-mixed gin and juice. In replicating a gin and juice this beer hits
the mark. Mobcraft Beer often goes out
on a limb to replicate flavors or takes a random winning recipe to brew the
next release. The downside of releasing
beers based on recipe concepts is that the beers will sometimes be a weird
mashup of flavors that may or may not mesh.
Fortunately with Sippin’ on G&J, Mobcraft Beer has knocked one out
of the park. I can only hope that a
couple bottles were sent out to Snoop so that he could try the beer that was
inspired by one of his best raps.
That’s all for tonight, check
back soon for another review!
Happy Drinking, and Remember to
Always Drink Wisconsinbly!