Millstream Iowa Pale Ale Review

Name: Millstream Iowa Pale Ale
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.7%
IBUs: 45

Say remember a few weeks back during my review of Millstream's German Pilsner that I promised to review their Iowa Pale Ale? Well, I managed to get my hands on it for today's review. As you may have already known, Millstream Brewing is based out of Amana, Iowa and, judging from the location, wouldn't be the first place you'd expect to find a brewery.

The beer I have today, as mentioned before, is their Iowa Pale Ale. Now I had this beer about 3-4 years ago and when I picked this up recently, I noticed this was called an IPA. I recalled when I first had it, I had sworn that it had been an American Pale Ale but wasn't too sure. So I did a bit of research and sure enough, this beer was considered to be an APA (based on the reviews I came across on Beer Advocate) which leads me to believe the change in style was fairly recent since it was only recently referred to as an IPA proper.

Appearance - Hazy dark orange color with a high amount of visible carbonation. The head has a very thin appearance with some decent retention and the lacing itself is quite abundant

Aroma - Rich floral hops and bready biscuits upfront. I'm also getting some light orange peel notes, just a hint of bitterness and some light toffee maltiness.

Taste - Floral hops and mild bitter hops on the front of the palate followed by some yeastiness and a light toffee maltiness. There really isn't much else here aside from those flavors.

Despite Millstream's insistence of calling this an IPA, I'd be very inclined to classify this as an American Pale Ale due to the overall flavor profile. Plus if my memory serves me correctly, this tastes the same as it did when I first had it 3-4 years ago. However I would still consider this to be a reasonably good beer, albeit a more simple tasting one at best.

Millstream Iowa Pale Ale - 7.5/10

Millstream German Pilsner Review

Name: Millstream German Pilsner
Style: Pilsner
ABV: 5%
IBUs: 25

Here's a brewery that I haven't really looked at before and that is Millstream Brewing based out of Amana, Iowa. If my memory serves me correctly, I've had one beer from these guys before and it was their Iowa Pale Ale. If my memory serves me even better, I believe I it 3 years ago when I was visiting from Chicago and I grabbed this as part of a mix-a-six.

For the time being, I've got their German Pilsner, which is what we will be reviewing today and it's a beer that I don't recall seeing before. As for the Iowa Pale Ale, I'll be sure to review that sometime in the near future.

Appearance - Fairly clear straw-yellow color with just a hint of haziness and a high amount of visible carbonation. The head is fairly thin with some mild retention and the lacing is very sparse with just a couple small spots here and there.

Aroma - I'm getting some pilsner & pale malts with some grassiness and light floral hoppiness. There's also a hint of very light yeastiness, so there's really not much to it.....let's try it out!

Taste - The flavor is, for the most part, fairly similar to the nose. You've got pilsner and pale maltiness with some lemongrass-like notes and a mild yet sweet floral hop profile on the back of the palate. The aftertaste itself is quite dry save for a light toastiness that lingers for maybe a few seconds.

This is a pilsner that plays it safe and, sure enough, it works in its favor. You've got a nice crisp pilsner with a light body that makes this an ideal beer to drink on a nice spring/summer day. Like I said, it plays it safe so don't expect anything too extraordinary.

Millstream German Pilsner - 8/10