Glorious tropical-fruited double-hopped copper-hazed India Pale Ale stays sweeter than bitterer. Creamy butter-scotched caramel-toasted malts bed candi-sugared apple-juiced pear, peach, tangerine, pineapple, cantaloupe, melon, and orange marmalade panoply contrasting pine-resinous grapefruit-peeled orange-oiled juniper bittering. Mild herbal whim tucked inside floral hop spicing atop wood-lacquered pliancy. Fruity bubblegum reminder clinches the deal. On tap, beechnut-spruced sweetness augments apple-candied orange-pulped tang, tropical pineapple-kiwi thrust, and bubblegum niche countering zesty grapefruit rind bittering to piney-hopped bottom.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWERY, PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BRAUEREI HELLER, BAMBERG, GERMANY
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Famed German smoked beer makers come through again with unexpectedly moderate-bodied double bock styling. Crisply clean oak-smoked peat malting leads the way for dry Band-aid-wafted amber-darkened rauchbier. Smoked salami, bacon fat, burnt hickory, and nutmeat speckle recessive lemon-oiled orange-fig tartness. An acquired taste worth discovering.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BRAUEREI-AYING FRANZ INSELKAMMER, AYING, GERMANY
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Affirmative medium-bodied winter seasonal bock brings honeyed yellow-fruited nature and caramel-crystal malting to casual herbaceous whim. Vanilla-sweetened banana-clove entry receives uppity lemon tartness and white-peppered menthol-eucalyptus-ginger freshness. Dry banana leaf illusion, musty barnyard grassing, and strangely irrelevant compost waft affect sugared fig-date recess and tertiary orange-apple-pear-pineapple fruiting. Here’s to another well-defined, interestingly enjoyable Ayinger brew.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BIG CITY BREWERY, KINGSTON, JAMAICA
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BROOKLYN BREWERY, BROOKLYN, N.Y.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Rewarding dark Belgian-styled ale with dry-fruited spicing and smoked cocoa malting blitzing dramatic rum-sugared bourbon, burgundy, and Merlot wining. Subsequent earthen grape-stemmed fig-date-prune souring receives cocoa-powdered black chocolate reverberation buttressing mild orange peel bittering.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: HIGH FALLS BREW. CO., ROCHESTER, N.Y.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: HARPOON BREWERIES, BOSTON, MA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Mildly astringent compost-wafted Thanksgiving-styled fruit ale lacks distinct character profile. Meek cranberry tartness, ester-y grape souring, and residual Vienna malt sugaring lost to phenol hop coarsening. Red cherry, raspberry and strawberry sweetness found in deep recess of easygoing moderate-bodied auburn ale. White-breaded spine falters badly.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: LANDMARK BREWERY, SYRACUSE, N.Y.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Bereft English-styled brown ale contract brewed by Buffalo’s Flying Bison. Advertised Madagascar vanilla bean bittering hidden beneath prominent hazelnut coffee theme. Unpleasant dirty earthiness trails maple-sapped molasses influence and minor toasted nuttiness. A little thin and fragile compared to larger hop-roasted chocolate-doused ‘Brownies.’
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: LVIVSKA PIVOVARNYA, LVIV, UKRAINE
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: NERREBROS BRYGHUS, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: NEW HOLLAND BREW. CO., HOLLAND, MI.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: 1
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: NOGNE O, GRIMSTAD, NORWAY
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None






