Luxurious bottled version is veritable godsend for wintry evening, 2010. Pureed black cherry fascination drapes rich fig-raisin-prune dried fruiting and sweet-Scotched sherry-burgundy-bourbon alcohol whir. Chewy brown-sugared honey-sapped molasses coating secures gooey medicinal cherry-candied stickiness, mild hazelnut-macadamia smidgen, and piney hop sop. Bruised banana, rum raisin, and caramel apple come along for the ride.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: PORTSMOUTH BREWERY, PORTSMOUTH, N.H.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: OTTER CREEK BREWING, MIDDLEBURY, VT.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CLIPPER CITY BREW. CO., BALTIMORE, MD.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Strong Belgian-styled tripel (with funky yeast sediment floating through dense amber-hazed full body) maintains candi-sugared fruit zest. Banana, bruised orange and green apple illusions counter subordinate pepper-spiced hop bittering. At finish, cotton-candied honey malt sweetness receives amiable butterscotch twist.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: WIDMER BROTHERS, PORTLAND, OR.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: PRIVATE LANDBRAUEREI SCHEUERER, MOOSBACH, GERMANY
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: PRIVATE LANDBRAUEREI SCHEUERER, MOOSBACH, GERMANY
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BREWDOG LTD., FRASERBURGH, SCOTLAND
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Wavering spiced ale may boast kola nut, poppy seed, and guarana herbage, but these under-whelming elements barely register. Instead, brown-sugared chocolate malting, red grapefruit tang, orange-tangerine juicing, and floral hop spicing integrate with tertiary tea, hemp, and pine forest illusions. Barley-roasted heather honey sweetness validates citric malting. Nowhere near as innovative and enigmatic as label claims.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Category: Interviews
- Comments: None
Admirable anti-fascist South American hippie, Sergio Dias, gained international acclaim fronting Os Mutantes, rebellious bossa nova-based folk surrealists whose ceremonial Beatles-influenced Tropicalia clashed against politically-empowered authoritarian traditionalists during Brazil’s turbulent late ‘60s uprising. The Sao Paola-raised Dias, alongside percussionist-brother, Arnaldo Baptista, and female singing counterpart, Rita Lee Jones, helped devise an enduring musical style rooted in their country’s cultural heritage and inspired by contemporary absurdist pop.
Credited with being unintentional innovators of cut-n-paste technology, a sample-based technique utilizing electronic affects…
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: RED HOOK BREWERY, PORTSMOUTH, N.H.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Offbeat copper-toned ‘09 Extra Special Bitter allows tannic grape acidity, moldy orange tartness, and mild nuttiness to affect honey-soured caramel-toasted malting. Citric-hopped cider sharpness gets diacetyl at tea-like tobacco-dried backend.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Category: Interviews
- Comments: None
Rocking all over America since age seventeen, contentious bad-ass punk diva, Jemina Pearl, hit the ground running in the now-defunct Be Your Own Pet before hijacking their drummer to co-compose a few tunes as lead guitarist in a solo venture she only hoped would satisfy loyal minions. The oldest daughter of churchgoing Jesus-worshipping hippies whose father played in a local rock and roll band, Pearl’s cutesy snot-nosed tomboy image and volatile onstage disposition proceed her.
Drawing listeners in with prudently…
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: OSKAR BLUES BREWERY, LYONS, CO.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Crisply carbolic straw-hued Czech pilsner needs deeper yellow-fruited luster and more incisive lemony lime tartness to overcome bleak corn malting. Understated herbal-floral influence, lackadaisical grapefruit bittering, and barren honeysuckle whim weaken over time.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: 21ST AMENDMENT BREWERY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Kitsch-y oak-aged Belgian-styled ’09 dark ale boasts barleywine-spirited complexity. Candi-sugared cinnamon, vanilla, and dried fig expanse elevates compost-wafted cola-hued oak-chipped full body. Bruised orange sweetness and mild grapefruit rind bittering never ransack dark-spiced brown-sugared cinnamon-toasted uprising as cherry-pureed raisin-fig souring juxtaposes toffee-like rum-doused stickiness. Tertiary cookie dough, buttered pecan, and almond illusions cake everlastingly creamy molasses-chocolate-cocoa malting.



