Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp

I picked up the six bottles of Clown Shoes beers, and the first one I tried was Tramp Stamp, a Belgian-style India Pale Ale. The beer pours a orange-amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of orange, tangerine, passion fruit, pineapple, and banana. The taste light but dry with a grass forward flavor, banana, and pepper. Some orange and tangerine adds plenty of bitterness on the finish. A light banana undertone compliments the beer nicely and also helps bring out an earthiness. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I was quite impressed with this Belgian IPA, as it was much more bitter than most in the style that I have tried. It mixed earthiness very well with citrus flavors and spicy pepper and grass.

Troegs Scratch 29- Belgian Style India Pale Ale

I rushed to the Troegs brewery to pick up a case of Scratch 29 Belgian Style India Pale Ale. The beer pours a golden color with a lofty foamy and bubbly white head. The aroma is filled with banana and pepper with a light hint of citrus. The taste is filled with banana and pepper, with a nice meringue finish. The hops are a perfect accent to this beer and there are lingerings of oak flavors. The alcohol content is 7.7% ABV. As much as Troegs tried to shy away from this being a "Belgian" beer, I think that they nailed the style perfectly. The banana and pepper flavors hit perfect notes as the hops rounded out the flavors. Also worth noting is that this is Troegs' first bottle conditioned beer, so I expect to see more of those in the future.