Drakes Expedition Ale

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
San Leandro, California USA

Amber? Huh. The pour is burnt orangeish amber in color giving off an aroma intrigue of cayenne and red bell pepper - obviously very hot but not in an alcoholic kind of way. Flavor is of pleasantly heavy malts, woods, and caramel - very dark flavor with not a lot of discernable hop presence beside the rich malts. Slightly thick, sweet and honeyish.

Poured a lightly hazed deep copper color with a thin off-white head. Citrus and floral hop aroma. Malty with notes of cola and nuts. Some alcohol in the nose. Malty caramel flavor mixed with ctirusy and acidic hops. Light to medium body.

12 oz bottle. Clear, then cloudy, brown with a skinny tan head. Spicy red grapes and some orange. Creamy grapefruit pith with increasing bitterness. Melts away leaving a pineapple-orange center. Toasty drying, chewy, light carb. A well-crafted journey for the tastebuds. Bitter, sweet, beautiful.

Bottle from tever. Brown amber color with small tan head. Lively carbonation. Hoppy lactose aroma. Citrus hop taste with good mixture of roasted malts. Sharp bitter finish. Very good beer.

Bottle courtesy of stoutlover72. Thanks Garrett! Cloudy amber. Foamy tan head. Nose is pine needles, citrus fruits and soft caramel. Taste is full on pine and citrus. A pleasant malt backbone tries to balance this out. Light maple-y notes as well. The palate is oily and somewhat astringent. Medium overall feel. Lingering bitterness throughout this one. Finishes with more citrus fruits, soft melon, pine sap, and light caramel. It’s pretty typical but done well enough.

Courtesy of Pailhead. Hazy mahogany nice beige head. Aroma is full of sweet caramel malt and a faint smoky character. Flavor exactly as aroma indicates with a decent citrus hop bite in the finish to clean the palate. Body is thin at times.

Draft. Copper beer with an off-white head. Malty, roasty aroma. Roasty, malty, slight coffee flavor with backing bitterness. Medium bodied. A bit muddled. Too much roasty graininess.

From a 12 oz. bottle with a blurb on back, short serving recommendations, no freshness date. Sampled cold in a goblet. Poured a rich looking dark amber with a foamy, fluffy pale tan head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of milk chocolate covered caramel toffee, currants, raisins and piney, citric hops. Good carbonation and a crisp, creamy smooth medium-light bodied mouthfeel. Good northwest taste, piney, dry leafy, citric hops with some tongue numbing bitterness, caramel toffee with a little malty sugariness, a little cocoa powdery, a noticeable alcohol flavor towards the end and a piney, leafy, caramel finish. This is second brew I’ve from Drake’s and both have been first rate, I need to try more of their beers.