Daring bourbon barrel-aged Belgian golden ale almost fully integrates cold-brewed coffee nuttiness into tripel-like honey-spiced dried fruiting for offbeat hybrid. Milk-sugared java continuance gains caramelized dark rum sweetness, almond-pecan whims, chocolate eclair nips and bourbon vanilla snips, losing some flare by the finish.
On tap at Beef Trust, fruit-caked Belgian dark candi sugaring merges caramelized plum-date-raisin splurge with understated cotton-candied banana sweetness above toffee-spiced pilsner malting in splendidly crystalline, stylishly forthright manner.
Sugary vanilla milkshake creaming sits atop yogurt-soured ambrosia fruiting and heavily wheated caramelized oats base of delightful lactose-spiked NEIPA. Sweet orange-peeled vanilla onrush gains lemony green grape tartness, mild grapefruit bittering and delicate peach-mango tang.
On tap at Taphouse 15, milk-sugared vanilla creaming fades slowly alongside doughy pastry-like sweetness scaling back the juicy mango tang. Sharply spiced orange-grapefruit-peach zesting stays brisk though lacquered pine oiling slightly undermines mango vanilla smoothie.
Briskly lemon-limed El Dorado hop bittering pervades peachy grapefruit and mandarin orange flash as well as cucumber watered watermelon rind pickling. Sour grape esters and mild herbal snips stay recessive.
Briskly fruited Cryo Cascade-hopped juiciness wades in ethanol vodka-like whirlpool (boozy 10% ABV) as moderate resinous pine bittering absorbs floral-spiced grapefruit rind, dried orange, pineapple, peach and mango flourishes. But pasty pale malt backing ransacked by slight cardboard edge.
Well integrated milk-sugared coffee, cocoa nibs and vanilla adjuncts rise above citric-spiced hop astringency. Mocha vanilla luster gains marshmallow, cream soda, white chocolate, creme de cocoa, Belgian-dipped cappuccino and hazelnut iced coffee sweetness.
Limey guava-strawberry adjuncts bring highly acidic sour-candied pucker to bittersweet concentrated orange juice pulpiness that pummels away at the tart frontage. Profoundly thick Berliner Weiss leaves salty residue on pink guava and strawberry combo as well as juicy orange intensity and tangy mango tease.
‘Heavily fruited sour ale’ stays sharp as tart blueberry-banana adjuncts gain limey orange juice acidity. Salted pineapple-licked oaken cherry tartness and fig-dried prune slumber deepen kettle-soured blueberry and banana frontage.
On tap at Taphouse 15, salted raspberry souring purged by moderate lemon acidity and vinous red wine tinge for pallid flagship. Musty saccharomyces yeast fungi absorbs raspberry frontage as faded strawberry rhubarb, oaken cherry, cranberry and gooseberry tartness creeps in.
Classic off-dry flagship retains clean pale malt-spiced orange tang , grassy hop astringency and resinous herbal whim. Wispy peach, mango and tangerine illusions add further brisk zesting to perfectly centrist, yet stylishly bold, West Coast pale ale.
CENTREVILLE, MARYLAND
Originally occupying a nearby garage, downtown Centreville’s BULL & GOAT BREWERY spent three years at its initial site before residing at its current home in a newly developed Industrial tan and maroon complex since 2019.
Bull & Goat’s humbly intimate Brit pub-like setting features a four-seat penny-engraved wood-lacquered bar, comfy living room furnishings and beautiful local artwork on the walls. Five wood tables and seating along the copper reddish wall fill up the cozy interior. Two draught stations pour a variety of lagers and ales listed on the green board towards the rear.
Raised on blue collar macrobrews such as Miller, Schmidts and Ballantine, co-owning brewer Jeff Putman went west and discovered many diverse beer styles years back. He became a homebrewer with a five-gallon system making “shitty beers” before hooking up with friend, Jacob Heimbuch. Besides operating Bull & Goat’s seven barrel brewroom, they’ve also begun distilling whiskey and bourbon and buying rye barrels to pitch beer – allowing two great choices (craft beer and spirits) to co-exist under one roof.
My wife and I try all available selections this sunny January ’21 afternoon.
Delicate wet-grained musk hovered thru the raw-honeyed tea leafing of Prom Dress Lager, leading maize-dried herbal hops to its recessive biscuit-like carapils base.
Honeyed amber graining fortified Frank, a floral-wafted English amber ale with spicy orange-red-yellow fruiting dampened by leafy hop foliage.
Sourdough breaded Vienna malting topped dewy mineral graining and floral-spiced wisps for Test Batch Marzen.
Spritzy Orangina-like pale ale, Orangesicle, obtained more lactose souring than vanilla creaming and mandarin orange tanginess.
Simply affable kolsch, Queen Anne’s Revenge, let mild lactic acidity saturate lemon-rotted Saaz hop herbage and dewy wet grains for a slightly sour take on the champagne-snipped German style.
Easygoing kettle-soured Berliner Weiss, Special Occasion, allowed tart raspberry compote to pervade limey blueberry tanginess and mild lemon-salted cherry rhubarb piquancy.
Musky earthen pine resin saturated dry-bodied 67 IPA, leaving zesty grapefruit, pineapple and orange spicing in the dust.
Brisk Double IPA, Baba Yaga, seeped mild cologne-perfumed citric hop bittering into spruce-tipped juniper nips and coniferous fern pining.
Sweet floral-spiced pineapple, orange and grapefruit tanginess and zesty lemon snazz pervaded Tooshie, a briskly fruited New England IPA.
Dry mocha-doused full body, Front Street Porter, coalesced dark chocolate malting with burnt coffee bittering over mildly charred hops.
Tootsie Roll-like Babushka Imperial Stout, the perfect chocolate dessert treat, let sugary toffee spicing increase the sweet mocha intensity.
For an interesting cider turnabout, off-dry Sparkling Pear brought lactose-soured champagne spritz to sugary cotton-candied marshmallow sweetness.