Ninkasi’s ReNEWale 2012

Ninkasi’s ReNEWale 2012

 

Happy New Year to all (but mainly those that live in the PNW)! Ninkasi is a new brewery to me, but I have enjoyed all of my beers by them thus far. I decided that since I ended 2011 with Ninkasi Sleigh’r (that posted in 2012), I would start with their New Year’s beer, the ReNEWale 2012! This ale’s pour revealed a dark colored ale with a thin, dark tan head. The aroma brought to mind brown sugar or my wife’s molasses cookies. My mind equates these spells with winter and produce the thought of warmth in my head, which is marvelous on a cold night.
This beer is smooth and not bitter at all. It has a sweet aftertaste and a very faint maltyness on the front end. The sweetness in the aftertaste brought brown sugar back to mind. This being said,  the brewery intended this beer to be dark chocolate in nature and the bitterness on the front end is reminiscent of that intention. The beer also feels lighter on the palette than expected of a dark ale and the flavor spectrum balances out nicely, with a light bitterness followed by the sweetness.
Now, on to talk a bit about this beers attributes. ReNEWale 2012 boasts a 5.9% abv, which is heavier than the average, but still light enough to enjoy without feeling tipsy at the end of the 22 oz bottle that it is available in. The bitterness rating is 38 IBU, which is on the less bitter side of a scale that tops out at 120 IBU. Ninkasi invested 9 different types of malt into this beer while only 2 types of hops where used, creating a beer with a feeling of ‘warmth’ in flavor instead of bitter.
I seem to be favoring the darker ales and lagers for my posts so far, this means that once again a stemmed porter/stout glass should be used as this is a porter. This glass allows the drinker to hold the stem, which keeps body heat away from the beer, in addition, the smaller top captures the head and bouquet of the beer. I recommend you go out and get this beer quickly as it is a seasonal available from January 1st to March 1st. Enjoy and bottoms up!

Over All-Rating: 9

Approachability (for new comers): 10

Flavor: 8

Pour/head: 8

Bouquet: 10

 


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