Today Chris and I are reviewing Allies Win the War, a collaboration between 21st Amendment and Ninkasi (http://21st-amendment.com/beer/allies-win-the-war).  We decided on this beer after asking the Reddit community which beer we should review (Thanks shuazien, throwbookatface, and koollama for the recommendations).  We went to our highly recommended local beer store, The Perfect Pour, to procure our powerful pints (well, 12oz cans, but I was going for the alliteration). In our ongoing review series we’ll be covering the following 5 items:

• Appearance
• Aroma
• Mouthfeel
• Flavor
• Aftertaste

Here is a quick guide for the beginner http://indybeers.com/beer-tasting-guide/.  At the bottom of that page is an HTML template that can be used in our comments if you would like to post your own reviews along with us.

About 21st Amendment Brewery:

Based out of San Francisco, California

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/21stamendment

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/21stAmendment

About Ninkasi Brewing Company:

Based out of  Eugene, OR

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Ninkasi

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NinkasiBrewing

Appearance

Scott:  Tons of head (a good 5 minutes passed before it went away).  It took three attempts to to get all the beer into the glass.  Great looking redish/brown hue.

Chris: It has a brownish-red color which was clear as opposed to cloudy. The head was frothy with big bubbles and left a head coat along the glass as it was being consumed.

Aroma

Scott: No question there is a strong hop smell.  As I leaned in to smell I could also hear the bubbles in the head talking like Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

Chris: A strong malty aroma with subtle hints of nuts and hops linger in the background.

Mouthfeel

Scott:  Not a lot of carbonation, which is surprising seeing the amount head.  There is a slight syrupy feel to it on the tongue.

Chris: It felt just over what I feel is lightly carbonated and is tingly on the tongue. It has a cooling effect which stood out and I found interesting.

Flavor

Scott: Unmistakable flavor of hops, but not enough to be considered an IPA.  The malty flavor that comes though is a nice undertone.  Knowing that it’s also brewed with dates makes me wonder about my morning ritual tomorrow.

Chris: At first taste the hops stood out but as I went on that quickly dissipated and the malty sweetness took over.

Aftertaste 

Scott: I’m on the second beer as I write this, and it was a struggle not to throw these back more quickly.  Like good home cookin’, these please in a post-Thanksgiving-manner of wanting a second and third helping.  I’m not sure I could handle many any more as the 8.5% ABV is more than noticeable.

Chris: I felt this was really tough to gauge since I really enjoyed the taste and probably drink/drank/drunk both too quickly to hone in on an aftertaste. It finished pretty much the same way it which is started.

Final Thoughts

Scott: We didn’t properly place these precious pints 😉 in the fridge right away (they were off the self in the store).  The first ones were a little warm, which may have have lead to the exaggerated head, and while we all agreed (Kelli had a sip of mine) that they should be colder, I found the slightly warmer temperature to be acceptable.  The flavor overcame the lack of coldness.

Our second beer was properly chilled, and more enjoyable than the first.  I guess the lesson here is, if you can’t wait, go for it, it’s still good, but if you can wait, well…you’re a better (wo)man than I am.

I think the past couple of reviews I forgot to give the beer a rating, so for this one I’ll give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Chris: Packaged, in a small box of four cans, that looks like an old newspaper; I was somewhat skeptical. Pushing doubts aside, this was without a doubt, a great suggestion by the reddit community. This beer is a excellent combination of hops and malts, and packs a surprising buzz factor within these cans. I would definately recommend it to others.