Yeastie Yankees

Happy 4th of July people! While plenty in America will just be waking up, those in the Shaky Isles have been either honouring, acknowledging or ignoring Independence Day for the last 20-odd hours.

Like most beer nerds here, I had to get myself some US beer to enjoy. Luckily for me, the local liquor outlet stocks a great range of Rogue beers. And while I picked up a bottle of their OREgasmic Ale for today, it's a different beer of the Oregon brewery's which I've really taken to - their Yellow Snow IPA.

With Green Flash opener in the shot

 I've got a bit of a joke at work with our emergency services reporter over the shenanigans going on at the temporary ice rink installed in the middle of The Swamp. People have - in typical Swampish student fashion - been taking to the rink in the middle of the night, usually while drunk, and causing all sorts of malarkey. I'm waiting for someone to succumb to a bodily function while on the ice, and have therefore dubbed any police-related activity to do with the rink "Operation Yellow Snow". But I digress.

While I may have first purchased Yellow Snow IPA for the name, I've quickly taken to being a big fan of the beer itself. For one, it comes in those great 650ml/6oz bottles which can be easily shared among many, or greedily hoarded into a single belly. It's got a brilliant sweet-orange flavour which I just adore in beers like this, but still keeps things nice and balanced with a nice hop tang. It manages to have a good mouthfeel as well; it's big and creamy enough to distinguish it from other IPAs, while not being fluffy like an unfiltered wheat. I've already drunk a few bottles of this and I'm pretty sure I'll be drinking the rest of the stock at the store.

With the pretty lady lurking through the bottle

And for the record, the OREgasmic Ale is great as well. Rogue have called it a Grow Your Own ale - in short, they grew the hops and barley for the beer. In semi-weird fashion, they've put on the bottle the exact longitude and latitude of the hop and barley farms. While I found it wanky for Monteiths to do the same with their Single Source, it seems just that bit nicer here. Maybe it has to do with the fact they are an actual craft brewery, or because they have their own hop and barley farms - I don't know, but I do know the beer taste a hell of a lot better than some super-brandwanked lager. It's dark amber in colour, fruity on the nose and hold a nice balance fruit-malt-hop profile which makes it very easy to drink. It makes me think of a tighthead prop in rugby who is comfortable enough in his own skin to wear a pink shirt; it's solid, but not afraid to be colourful.

The beer also has this awesome earthiness to it. It nearly tastes like dirt, but I like it. I've only caught it this prominent once before, which I found in the closer-to-home Tuatara American Pale Ale when brewers changed the hop profile at some point.

I hope most of you raised a glass of something American and thanked them for great things. What did I thank them for? Great beer, spare ribs, American-style pizza and Bob's Burgers. And what better way to thank, than to imbibe them all.