Lighter, less complex and more approachable than brewers’ Pale Ale. Mild green hop bittering politely embitters nebulous citric splash to frail white breaded backdrop. Fresh-cut grass waft seeps into delicate floral background.
ROCKY POINT WINTER ESB
On tap at Shoreline Beverage, well-integrated Long Island nanobrewery’s curious hybrid will please its cold-weathered Anglo base. Dirty earthen peat graining provides Extra Special Bitter coating for wintry cinnamon-gingerbread spicing. Fig-sugared chocolate and cocoa malting underscores nickel-coppered medium body. Vegetal tinge hidden beneath.
SPEAKEASY BLACK & WHITE COOKIE
On tap at Shoreline Beverage, robust mocha dessert beer recalls chocolate chip cookie or Sugar Daddy candy bar on the sweet side. Black chocolate-malted cacao nibs influence enhanced by vanilla bean, molasses, toffee and jellybean illusions. Ashen hop astringency and tobacco chaw acridity embitter wavered smoked bourbon recess to milked coffee backend.
SPEAKEASY BARREL-AGED SCARFACE IMPERIAL STOUT
Voluminous bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout (circa 2013) gains warmth for soothing nightcap. Smoked bourbon saturates black coffee overtones and dark-roasted chocolate malting. Candied Jack Daniels whiskey sweetness picks up steam thereafter as lovely espresso, molasses, vanilla, anise and gingerbread undertones contrast hop-charred wood burn.
CHELSEA NEW YORK STATE OF MIND INDIA PALE ALE
On tap at Shoreline Beverage, piney IPA-defined grapefruit peel bittering heightened by tea-bagged Extra Special Bitter-like peated rye malting. Dried orange musk spreads across sugary pineapple, peach and mango sweetness, settling beside mildly astringent herbal-hopped citric pining above toasted barley base.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE INDIA PALE ALE
Absolutely approachable moderate-bodied IPA will gain acceptance from lighter thirsts and jaded hopheads alike. Sunny lemon-seeded tartness picks up mild grapefruit bittering and resinous piney dankness. Tertiary peach, mango and pineapple fruiting sweetens the backend. Light rye breading provides soft bed.
(STRUBBE) ICHTEGEM’S GRAND CRU
Well-rounded oak-barreled Flanders Red Ale layers Spanish Madeira-like wining atop sour raspberry vinaigrette, bubbly champagne, green grape, Granny Smith apple and wild berry illusions. Residual-sugared oaken cherry niche heightens residual sweet ‘n sour grape-juiced cider nuances.
(DUBUISSON) SCALDI’S PRESTIGE
Serendipitous oak-barreled amber ale with rusty nickel hue spreads syrupy Grand Marnier orange liqueur warmth and medicinal whiskey-daubed Cognac likeness over caramel-malted butterscotch bottom. Chardonnay-buttered brandy, bourbon, port and plum wine notes crowd rotted blood orange, tangerine, peach and cherry souring at the midst. White grape, green raisin and moldy fig tartness flutters through tertiary honeyed herbal notions.
OLVISHOLT LAVA ICELAND SMOKED STOUT
Uniquely rigorous hybrid balances peat-smoked German rauchbier grit with mild Russian Imperial Stout mocha sedation. Beechwood-smoked campfire setting picks up stylistic Band-aid astringency for ascending dark chocolate malting and mild coffee roast. Cured meat leathering gains prominence over fudgy molasses midst. Tertiary creme brulee, honeyed whiskey, black cherry, roasted tobacco and maple-sapped bacon illusions scamper by.
DARK HORSE TRES BLUEBERRY STOUT
Dramatic ink black-hued full body brings busily creamy chocolate-covered blueberry dessert profile to the fore. Dark-roasted chocolate richness and nutty coffee roast pick up wood-burnt Blackstrap molasses thickness. Smoked bourbon, dry burgundy and pinot noir wining glaze the mocha finish. An amazing plethora of robust flavors get pushed forward without getting mushy.
NEW BELGIUM PEACH PORCH LOUNGER
Boringly sessionable fruited Belgian saison knockoff comes off way too watery. Phenol lemon-peeled peach entry gets drowned out by white-peppered carbolic spritz. Murky brettanomyces yeast souring depletes hominy grits influence, tepid coriander-clove spicing, raw molasses acridity and dry barnyard funk while deterring tart peach tones from ripening.
SCHLAFLY HEFEWEIZEN
Horrid unfiltered lightweight never makes the cut. Absolutely no hefeweizen-styled banana-clove influence appears, making pale-yellowed suds closer to a lemony soft-grained American wheat beer instead. Washed-out mineral grained astringency and raw maize acridity dispel watery wheat-starched fluff.