Half Acre Beer Co. -- Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

Half Acre Beer Co. is located on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. In April 2010, Half Acre became the first brewery in Chicago to can beer. They chose the 16 oz. can, "a pint of freedom" as they call it.

In 2006 Half Acre was created in a spare bedroom. They had no brewery and no intention to build one, the beer was created with assistance of a contract brewer in Wisconsin. The owners set out to find a brewery of their own and stumbled upon a building for lease in a lively neighborhood of Chicago. Over the next couple years Half Acre began to grow its existence. They built a store where they could brew and sell beers to go and learned what it meant to be brewery owners in a complex industry. Today they own their own brewery which houses their store, selling beer and merchandise to the public, and also added a tap room where they can host the people who want to cheers their beers. Half Acre claims to continue to enjoy themselves as much as possible and encourage the interesting experiences the ride has to offer.

Half Acre has four different categories of beer:

1. Perennials - "16 oz. tall boy, One pint of freedom."
• Daisy Cutter Pale Ale: "A west coast Pale Ale chock-full of dank, aromatic hops. This one's a screamer, hoard it. 5.2% ABV."
• Gossamer Golden Ale: "A drinker. This Golden Ale is a quality travel companion that aims to please with subtlety and aroma pop. 4.2% ABV."
• Over Ale: "This brown beer is a hybrid concoction brewed with malt heft and all around backbone. A style-less wonder. 6% ABV."
2. Seasonal Beers - "These beers come and go with the seasons, grab them while you see them."
3. Collaboration Beers - "Brewed with colleagues..."
4. One-Off Brews - "One and done, unless we brew it again."

The beer I chose to review today was one of the Perennials, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale. 

My experience: As it was described before, it is a Pale Ale with lots of hops. Daisy Cutter is a golden honey color which matches the smell perfectly. It has a ver aromatic and distinguished smell, very grassy, floral, and some pine and grapefruit. This was a good thing, though it made it more sweet rather than tart like most beers with this much hops. The taste matched the smell exactly, very refreshing and floral even drank from the can. 

Another reviewer's opinion: Appearance - Deep gold with a large fluffy white head. Smell - Fresh, juicy grapefruit hops. Grassy with pine resin and floral hops. Slight hint of caramel. Taste - A blast of citrus and pungent piney hops. A mild earthy hop bitterness builds up but is balanced by sweet caramel malt. Finishes with light citrus and bready malt that tends to linger. Smooth and crisp with a light-medium body. Dry finish, good carbonation.This is a phenomenal pale ale. Dangerously drinkable. Huge hop flavor, nice balance.

If you have been keeping up with my blog, you may have come to realize I really enjoy the light, summery beers. Let me know what your favorite kind of brew is!