Half Acre Beer Company- Daisy Cutter: Too Hard To Horde

As some of you may know, Half Acre Beer Company’s release of Galactic Double Daisy Cutter happened this past Friday and it came as no surprise to me, they completely sold out of it.  I got there 15 minutes before they closed and low and behold, gone.  I wasn’t going to waste a trip to the city’s best Craft Brewery so I decided to grab a four pack of their Daisy Cutter pale ale.  Lucky for me (the man with the plan) Wes grabbed me a few bottles of the Galactic Double Daisy Cutter as he managed to be in line prior to the release.  I have had the Daisy Cutter on multiple occasions and this brew falls into the same category as many others…it doesn’t last long in this house.  So I’m gonna cut to the chase and get after it!

Half Acre Beer Company classifies this brew as a Pale Ale and their website briefly describes Daisy Cutter as, “A west coast Pale Ale chock-full of dank, aromatic hops. This one's a screamer, horde it.”

Daisy Cutter pours a golden yellow color with straw edges and a ¾” eggshell head.  The aroma is a cornucopia of floral and citrus hops along with lemon and slight butterscotch scents.

Ok, so if it wasn’t easy to tell before…this is by far one of the best pale ales on the planet.  I have a total of three that I use as my yard stick to measure all pale ales by and that is and has always been Three Floyds Alpha King, Sun King Brewing Company’s Osiris Pale Ale and last but not least, Half Acre Beer Company’s Daisy Cutter.  What I love about all three, is that they are all unique and are very different from each other.  Daisy Cutter is a heavenly because of the citrus hoppiness that runs from start to finish.  There are also hints of lemon, butterscotch and luscious pale malts that make this brew a perfect choice for me.  Daisy Cutter is crisp and refreshing in the finish and leaves your mouth wanting more.  I am absolutely in love with Daisy Cutter and as Half Acre tries to suggest, horde it…don’t think so, it’s so damn good that it won’t be around long enough to horde.

ABV: 5.2%

Consumed: Nonic Pint Glass

Verdict: Buy A Keg

Half Acre Brewing Company- Daisy Cutter Pale Ale: “Something jumped up and bit me!” Ameri"CAN" Craft Beer Review Month - Day 3

Being an English teacher has caused me to read more books than I can count. In college I had a pretty serious addiction to reading books about Vietnam. The firsthand accounts of ordinance dropping in from overhead and leveling fields were haunting, breathtaking and terrifying. One book in particular, “Dispatches” by Michael Herr, caused me to develop an unnatural fixation with the reporter centered “new journalism” that was being spearheaded by visionaries like Hunter S. Thompson. This approach removed the invisible wall that was arbitrarily constructed to separate a reporter from his subject. I know you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with beer, but the answer is layered in the name. You see, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale by Half Acre shares its name with the Daisy Cutter bombs used in Vietnam to turn dense jungle into smoldering piles of ash and obliterated humanity. And much like a 15,000 BLU 82/B, this beer will blow your fucking head off.

Daisy Cutter pours with an attitude like a cat you would love to pet, if it would only let you near. Its hazy, citrine visage is cloudy with very active yet tiny bubbles springing upward into a lily white bed of ¼ inch foam. The aroma is a devil’s dance of sweet grainy malt, yeasty esters and dandelion floral pleasantries. Daisy Cutter honestly smells like a walk in the park. This might be the closest thing to canned sunshine on the planet.

Remember the first time you knocked out Mike Tyson in Punch-out, or hit that game winning grand slam in a little league game? Well Daisy Cutter puts that in your mouth! This beer is a hoppy delight that finishes so balanced yet dry that it will literally leave you smacking your lips. The floral notes are so perfectly nuanced that you will wonder if someone didn’t sell their soul to formulate this brew. This is one of those very rare beers that have no counterpart. There is absolutely nothing like Daisy Cutter anywhere on this planet.

Half Acre’s little gem is the perfect kickoff to AmeriCAN Craft Beer Review Month. I was honestly a little dismayed with myself when I realized that I had never actually reviewed this brew. I guess subconsciously I was trying to keep this my little secret. But Daisy Cutter deserves to have its praises sang from the top of a mountain. As I sit here blasting some Jimi Hendrix I couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy this masterpiece. Let’s hope that this is the only type of Daisy Cutter that our children and grand children will ever have to talk about. Enjoy your summer and swing by the Half Acre Brewery on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. You won’t regret it!    

ABV: 5.2%

Consumed: Pint Glass

Verdict: Buy a Keg!