Southern Tier Brewing Company- Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale: Summer in a bottle

I recently started rereading Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” I was looking for a brew that would help capture Kerouac’s adventurous spirit and endless yearning for stimuli. I have to say I am starting to get the travel bug as well. Montana is still a month away and I need some wide open spaces myself. I guess I will need to find salvation in a bottle for the time being. Hopefully Southern Tier’s Extraordinary Ale is the ticket.

I was a little afraid to try this beer. Jason has been gushing about it for over a month. He has also decided that he likes the band Vampire Weekend, so I am not sure if I can trust his taste anymore? Here we go…

It pours a pale orange, with a flat almost nonexistent foam. The scent is very floral, with a subtle, muted bouquet of fruit and a faint, sweet graininess. Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale is extremely complex in flavor. The frontloaded flavor is a dry, hoppy, sweetness. This is replaced with a fruity bitterness. A very interesting and intricate taste overall. You do not find this much flavor medley in a beer that is so light and drinkable often. This pale ale just might have been the muse that Kerouac needed on that long haul in the back of a pick-up truck heading to Denver to meet Carlo and Dean. I think I just found my new summer brew!

ABV: 5.4%

Consumed: Pint Glass

Verdict: Buy A Case

Southern Tier Brewing Company- Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale: Extraordinary Is A Full Blown Understatement!!

Even though it is starting to look like I’m a shill for the folks over at Southern Tier Brewing Company (as they have become at this point my most reviewed brewery) this is not the case.  There are a couple of things in life that persuade me to make a purchase, red white & blue packaging and seeing the word “extraordinary” are two of them.  This beer had me from the word go because the label included both, had it had a woman in a bikini I might have started cracking open bottles right there in the store.

Southern Tier Brewing Company classifies this as an American Pale Ale and their website describes it as, "When we sat down to collaborate on this beer, we knew we had to create something extraordinary. After sampling a wide array of great beers, we hit upon an idea: use vast amounts of whole hops, the finest malted barley North America has to offer, and crystal filtered artesian water.  Thus creating this classic American style pale ale."

This beer pours a golden orange color with a small off white head, hoppy aromas and registers in at a 5.4% ABV.

This beer has entered my personal top five beers.  This beer is the equivalent of a second encore sitting front row at a Metallica concert, you are blessed to be there in the first place but to get two is tops.  Upon my first taste I was throwing up “devil horns” and texting everyone I knew about how great this beer was.  If you like ales, you’re gonna love it, if you like pale ales, you’re gonna mess yourself.  If you’re not starting your car right now to get to the store and find some…well then what the hell are you waiting for?

**Note:  While playing Phase 10 with the old lady, my sister & brother-in-law the other night, my sister noticed the label.  She stated that she liked the name Phin (sorry Matt) and has since decided that upon her & her husband getting pregnant and if it is a boy his name will be Finn (Finian) with an F.  Which is way better than Dillon…just sayin’. 

ABV: 5.4%

Consumed: New Belgium Globe Glass

Verdict: Buy A Keg