Lemony Cascade-hopped bitter contrasts wafting wheat-husked fresh grass, hemp, and barnyard dryness against sweet cereal grain serenade awaiting clean mineral finish.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
(FLYING BISON) BARD’S TALE LAGER
Light-bodied golden-clouded gluten-free pale body (a.k.a. Dragon’s Gold Sorghum Lager) suffers from soapy buttered popcorn frontage and astringently raw barley-oats-pumpernickel allusion. Dry sourdough midst, charred timber suggestion, and minor berry twinge elude husked wheat finish, leaving desolate aftertaste.
FLYING BISON AVIATOR RED ALE
Caramelized Irish-styled garnet-hued red ale emits smoked malt waft reciprocated by dry mocha, sweet tobacco and ancillary cigar ash illusions. Increasingly bitter hop finish picks up almond-walnut trace, leafy wetness, hemp trace, and mushroom earthiness.
FLEURETTE GIOIA DI VIVERE ALE
Like a corky Belgian cuvee or gueuze spreading unripe green grape pucker and Granny Smith apple sourness atop cloudy yeast sediment, this abstruse pinkish-highlighted amber golden aperitif gains many offbeat illusions. But advertised floral promise of rose, violet, and elderberry nuances never conquer lemon-dried mandarin orange burst or fungus-like olfactory dankness (though lavender and lilac hints persist). Black pepper spicing is inconspicuous.
(TSINGTAO) FIVE STAR PILSNER
Buttery soft-hopped barley-corn envelops tongue before cheap Scotch malt sweetness inundates plain finish. Better than most macrobrews thanks to crisp water flow.
FISH TALE WILD SALMON PALE ALE
Citric-floral entry receives barley-toasted malting and glistening cotton-candied sweetness to contrast moderated bitter hop spritz. Mountain water freshness brightens tertiary berry, spruce and nut illusions from top to bottom of workable medium-bodied pale ale competitor.
FISH TALE POSEIDON’S IMPERIAL STOUT
Weighty 10% alcohol content happily hidden behind fantastic array of port, burgundy, and bourbon illusions as oak-aged burnt wood chip thicket caresses prune, chocolate, and cocoa cluster. Oncoming ashy dryness counters thick syrupy nature, allowing busy mocha finish to increase its extremely sweet maple serration.
FISH TALE DETONATOR DOPPELBOCK LAGER
Lovely oak-aged ruby mahogany bock with sweet chocolate palate and lactose nosing allows ancillary toffee creaminess to soak up earthen wood, smoked cedar, and charred beech hints to smooth prune depth.
(FISCHER) DESPERADOS LAGER
Blending agave, citrus, and undefined spices, clear-bottled lime-scented malt-lacquered brew gets disturbingly cloy after ill-advised sour-candied fruit tartness goes south. Only better than Zima, if that’s progress. The beer equivalent of a lame wine cooler.
FISCHER D’ALSACE LA BELLE STRASBOURGEOISE
Effusive cider-y champagne aeration negatively influences pallid hop-dried astringency. Restrained wheat husk backs ethereal citric lime pucker, limpid sudsy flow, and meekly tart white wine finish befuddling medium-bodied fecklessness.
FISCHER D’ALSACE BITTER BEER
Exceptionally watery, flat, acrid persistence overwhelms lame rye dryness and honeyed citric astringency, making one yearn for quality wine-silken French brews. Skunked hop bitterness and salty brine harshness subside at unassuming metallic finish. Vile acetous bile.
FISCHER D’ALSACE AMBER MALT LIQUOR
Cork-bottled Frenchie with dry-fizzed sweet wine essence remains strong yet unassuming. Creamy caramel-malted brew goes down smooth but lacks consistency and firm formal finish. Further taste tests reveal sharp-hopped orange-bruised Scotch-candied tartness. Malt liquor labeling is a canard.