ilk
Brewery: Yokefellow
Style: Best Bitter (11B)
Package: 16oz Can
Purchased: Whichcraft April, 2020
Canned Date: March 3, 2020
Consumed Date: April 16, 2020
Details From the Brewer
ABV: 4.9%
Friends, A new ordinary pale beer called “ilk” has been made, and it tastes nice. Leaning further into simplicity, “ilk” is a tangent of some favorite Yorkshire pale ales. Just Golden Promise. Just East Kent Goldings. Just a special yeast that prefers angular geometry. Is it a proper bitter? Probably not. Does it taste like orange marmalade and apricot jam on white toast? Definitely yes.
Review
Aroma – 11/12
Grainy bread crust with a honey-like sweetness at a medium level. Green pear and fig esters blend nicely with this. There’s a black tea hop aroma with a touch of potpourri. All of these flavors notes blend evenly together. There’s no alcohol detected or off flavors.
Appearance – 3/3
A deep gold with almost copper hue liquid. Good clarity, but some sediment suspends from the bottom of the can. Ivory fine and small bubbles compose a monster head that hangs around with great retention.
Flavor – 15/20
Grainy crackers and bread crust malt flavors hit the tongue first. There’s medium intensity red apple ester that brings with it some honey sweetness. A moderate bitterness appears on the mid-palate. This brings with it some of that black tea, earthy hop character. The finish is slow, with the flavors fading and leaving a light, dry lingering bitterness. As it warms, I’m getting a slight soapy flavor develops.
Mouthfeel – 4/5
Medium carbonation with a bit more body than expected. It’s very soft throughout the whole taste with only a bit of bitter sharpness on the finish. Low alcohol warmth, and no astringency.
Overall Impression – 9/10
A very well balanced bitter. All of the flavors here blend really nicely together. The malt and yeast expression here is beautiful. I just wasn’t a fan of the slight soapiness (hops?) that came out as it warmed more. It didn’t really take away from how well this beer drinks though.
Rating – 42/50
This is the first beer I’ve had from Garrett Crowell’s new venture Yokefellow. He’s posted enticing pictures on Instagram since leaving his head brewing gig at Jester King. As expected, the head on this beer is gorgeous! #whipthemeringue It’s great to see more takes on malt and yeast forward beers like this, particularly those below 5%! Hopefully we’ll see more sessional beers from them soon.
