With a couple more stops at my local, I’ve managed to collect more canned production beers from one of our local brewers.
Prairie Krafts Brewing Co. was started in April of 2016, at 1310 Busch Pkwy., Buffalo Grove. They began packaging in cans early this year, and have four flagship brands available.
Trishul Pale Ale 6.2% ABV-50 IBU
A well balanced and solid Pale Ale brewed with a little bit of oats and light caramel malts for depth of flavor. This beer was made with 3 hops, including a light dry hop.
Has a piney resin smell of PNW hops. The body has the haze of little hop floaties in a dark yellow body, under a sudsy head. The taste is mostly hop bitterness, resolving to a note of resin. The malt stays mostly in the background, except for a bit of stickiness on the lips. A nice iteration of the American Pale Ale, though I would like to have seen maybe an extra hop or two.
The Grove Amber Ale 5.7% ABV 32 IBU
Light amber color, medium body, flavored with Mosaic hops as a dry hop addition.
Smell is pretty sharp, more like a hoppy red ale than anything with “amber” in its name. Pours brown and cloudy, with a spongy, lacy head. Mosaic leaves a distinct resin nose, with a little mango and apricot in the nose, then a bit of English earthiness. Taste delivers a lot of hop aromatics that belie its IBU numbers. Nice caramel malts that push it toward a northern brown ale.
Player 2 IPA 6.6% ABV – 70 IBU
Light orange in color with Papaya, tropical and fruity notes. Moderately bitter with a medium body & subtle sweetness.
Brassy to russet color poured into a tall glass. The nose does indeed have some tropical fruit, and it’s low on bitterness. But the taste; the taste has plenty of hop. Again, hazy from minimal filtering. Bitterness is more pronounced on the palate, with the hops’ fruitness subdued. Malt is toasty and tasty.
Prairie Pilsner 5.0% ABV
No description on their web page, and this seems to have been formulated just for packaging, as the name hasn’t appeared on the beer rating sites before, except for a differently named Pilsner with a different abv. The beer has the basic “beer” smell we all grew up with, with a note of soft water and a bit of German hop in the nose. Body has a bit more gold to it than the average mega Bier, and a spongy head. The taste is light yet with a firm toasted malt background. A bit of pepper from Noble hops. I’m trying this on the stormy night of our first 80° day of the year, and this proves it can really hit the spot on a hot day.
