Ellicottville Pantius Droppus (NY)

I noticed that Beerjanglin' gushed over this foray into big beer from Ellicottville Brewing Company (EBC), so I figured I'd give it a try. Pantius Droppus is an Imperial Pale Ale --  not an Imperial IPA. I wondered what that distinction meant, and then recalled that I didn't even like EBC's grapefruit rind pale ale.  So would this be just more of a bad thing? In addition, it's claim of a "robust Cascade dry hop" made me think I knew what I was getting into, nothing particularly original.

But then there's the sour, enough so that I wondered whether my bottle had gone bad. It turns out, others have noted the sour notes as well, so I'll assume it's intentional. Here's the thing: I have yet to "appreciate" sour beers, but I like Pantius Droppus a good deal. The sourness isn't overwhelming, but stands on top of other aspects of the beer: citrus and sweet-leaning malts, slight grapefruit bitterness underneath. The high alcohol doesn't comes through. It still leans more to sipper than gulper, but isn't oppressively heavy. 

About $7.50 a bomber for 22 ounces of 11.5% ABV isn't a bad price at all, and I greatly appreciate the uniqueness of Pantius Droppus, a beer that Biggus Dickus would have loved.

Ellicottville Nut Brown Ale (NY)

This newly bottled beer from Ellicottville (contract brewed by Southern Tier) was known as Buchan Nut Brown when sold in growlers and on tap. It pours clear copper with an off-white head. The aroma hints at citrus hops, and these are apparent in the taste too, although only in the background. It's also faintly soapy. Still, the hops are arguably more prominent than the malt, and I don't detect much nuttiness at all. It's really a pretty light brown ale, not nearly as flavorful as those from Dogfish Head or Smuttynose. Maybe those aren't fair comparisons, but to me this is disappointing.

I wasn't crazy Ellicottville's Pale Ale either, but that one at least made an impact (I thought it was too severe). I'm wondering if there were issues translating this from tap to bottle, or maybe problems with consistency.

Ellicottville Pale Ale (NY)

"Brewed & bottled by Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, NY." Contract brewing is fine, but this beer isn't. Yellow/orange color looks nice, though the head doesn't last. It's kind of thin. My main problem is that it tastes too much like grapefruit. I don't dislike grapefruit, but it needs to be balanced with something else. I hate to slag off on a small brewer from my neck of the woods, but I wouldn't drink this again (although the raters at Ratebeer and Beer Advocate seem to like it.)

Note: apparently, this used to be called Two Brothers Pale Ale.