Sweet ‘n sour bruised banana tartness picks up expectant clove-coriander spicing, but coarse white-peppered hop bittering and vodka-burnt alcohol kick make musky German wheat styling a tad peculiar. Tangy lemon liming tingles the sturdy honeyed white wheat spine.
Dingy English-styled porter lacks firm character in the bottle, but not on draught. Dry cocoa-powdered black chocolate roast loses luster as mildly embittered toasted hop coarsening disrupts tepid maple-sugared cola nuttiness. Ashen tobacco astringency overloads soy-milked mocha finish. On tap at Three Wise Monks, molasses-soaked peppering adds heat to coffee-roasted black chocolate frontage, sweet toffee malting and damp-wooded hop char.
Silkenly caliginous ale loads black chocolate, gooey black licorice and raw Blackstrap molasses onto ashen wood-burnt hop char. Fudgy cocoa-powdered remnant, latent vanilla-espresso-burgundy undertones and coarse cola nuttiness reinforce thick mocha theme. (Contract brewed by Thomas Creek).
Assertive Ecuadorian cocoa nibs influence provides luxurious dessert luster for mildly creamed chocolate porter. Dry Baker’s chocolate illusions settle beneath powdered cocoa theme alongside lesser gingerbread, sugared peanut, milked coffee and toffee undertones.
Tart peach juicing reveals appealing fruity dessert nature. Peach nectar sweetness reinforced by lemony apricot-nectarine-tangerine-cantaloupe tang and musky floral potpourri. Peach cobbler midst picks up mild white-peppered coriander spicing, slick clay-hopped plasticity and terse aspirin astringency above soft honeyed wheat bed.
Subtle oak aging slightly chars resinous piney hop astringency contrasting sugared pink grapefruit tang and toasted caramel malt creaming. Light lemony orange snip sharpened by ascending juniper berry bittering. Minor vegetal spell in deep recess.
Stylistically full-bodied amber lager places musky lemon tang above wort-soured rye wheat gluten, caramelized sorghum and sesame-seeded caraway. Grassy Hallertau hops wane in the distance.
Despite handy ‘draft’ appelation, bottled version of moderate Cascade-hopped pale ale got sampled. Barley-malted cereal graining and toasted caramel sweetness impact softly hop-spiced citrus tartness. But soapy finish nullifies initial fruity aspect as creamy head dissipates. Serve to lighter blue collar thirsts.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
At a light industrial section just north of downtown in a maroon brick building (with yellow insignia), RALEIGH BREWING COMPANY opened March 9, 2013. Run by married co-owners Kristie and Patrick Nystedt, the friendly noir-like beer joint served well-rounded American, British, Belgian, Scottish and Czech styled fare from its dank maroon-walled high-ceiling tasting room on my June ’13 summer sojourn.
Since future renovations seem imminent, its worth noting the spacious cement-floored pub area can easily be expanded to the gigantic back-spaced brewing room. For now, Atlantic Brewing Supply Company runs the left space while a narrow outdoor porch and parking lot benches provide extra drinking spots.
Settling at the trusty tasting room bar (featuring white bell-shaped light fixtures, exposed pipes, 10 bar stools, 10 tables and 4 dartboards), blonde bartender, Rachel, serves eight 6-ounce samplers as MGMT’s hook-filled “Kids” plays in the background this sunny afternoon.
As a soft-toned sessionable opener, City Of Blokes English Bitter proves to be a durable English pub ale with its dry-honeyed toasted nuttiness, serene hop-spiced pale malting and earth-toned vegetal fungi snip.
Also light and crisp, Uncommon Curiosity Lager brought grassy-hopped cereal graining to dry citric-vegetal tones.
Dryer still, Moravian Rhapsody Czech Pils gathered citric-hopped pale malts for vegetal squash, asparagus and celery pungency.
These easygoing libations led the way for more complex fare. Pilsner-malted Hell Yes Mam Belgian Golden offered honey-spiced Belgian candi-sugaring to ripe banana, apricot and pear fruiting.
Scott’s Petit Saison plied black-peppered herbage to rotted orange juicing.
Arguably the best offering, House Of Clay Rye IPA saturated dry-hopped rye toasting with grapefruit-peeled dessicated orange bittering and dark floral-spiced pineapple, mango, kiwi and passion fruit tropicalia.
Seductive Blatherskite Scottish Ale may’ve topped all previous servings as well. Its caramel-honeyed toffee malts, cereal grained sugaring and ripe fruiting seemed sweeter and more enjoyable stylistically.
On the dark side, finely detailed Hidden Pipe Porter rounded up dark-roasted chocolate malts, coffee-roasted cappuccino creaminess and sugared molasses to elevate tertiary black cherry, blackberry and black grape notions.
An appealing freestyle microbrewery with rangy fare and ambitious determination, Raleigh Brewing represents the beer-centric North Carolina capitol quite well.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA