Elk Creek Anniversary Ale

Brewed by Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks
Style: Amber Ale
Millheim, Pennsylvania USA

They brought this one back for the second anniversary too. Sampled on draft at the brewery this beer poured a caramel-amber color with a medium sized tan head. The aroma was bitter and had a lightly harsh fruity hop presence and had a soapy undertone. The flvaor was bitter and somewhat harsh fruity hops with a touch of floral hops and a hint of pepper. The finish was long, bitter and fruity. Medium body. Ok.

On tap at the brewpub. Noses a heavy styrofoam and screamingly harsh, chemical-heavy Cluster-like hops. This is coarse and biting. I can feel some gentle hop resins underneath, but an infected-like chemical bite makes it unappealing. Pours a coppery red-brown, hazy with a foamy head in off-white. Flavor is rough. There’s a strong, strong chlorine/infection/bad-water bitterness that’s just off-putting. I choked this one down. It was chemical-laden and messy. The malts, strong icky house yeast, and faint decent hop notes were obliterated by either an infection, chlorine in the water, or a lack of treating mineral-heavy water and then loading up on the hops. There’s something wrong here.