Pipeworks Brewing Surrounded by Friends with Machetes Wheat Pale Ale

I'm getting right back on the Pipeworks horse after last week's disappointing beer by cracking open another of their collaboration ales: Surrounded by Friends with Machetes. Surrounded by Friends is a Wheat Pale Ale brewed with ginger, cardamom, apples, and black currants. Like all Pipeworks' beers, it's big at 9% ABV. This is Pipeworks collaboration with Bad Apple.

The long and short of it is that I liked this beer quite a bit. It's not great, but it is good and refreshing. As you can see by the photos, it has an almost apple-colored appearance with a nice foamy head. The nose is tart, but with really strong ginger and cardamom notes, which isn't surprising given these ingredients' overpowering aromas. The wheat tones down any hoppiness in this beer. It is sweet, medium-bodied, and nicely effervescent. Initially, it is apple sweet, with strong flavors of cardamom and ginger quickly followed by currants in the finish. All in all a very pleasant beverage.