Classic English pub ale may be sessionable, but its body is only fair. Phenol hop astringency and musty earthen peat contrast teasing lemon spritz. Docile caramel malting and bread-crusted biscuit buttering need to be pushed forward. Nondescript, methinks, though very well-liked by enlightened Anglo proletariat.
Not a slickly cloy shandy despite overriding lemon-candied tartness, sugary lemon soda fizz and distant lemonade sweetness. Instead, dry ginger herbage, salty Berliner Weisse-like coriander spicing and musty lemongrass musk bring certain bittering to acidic limoncello liqueur likeness. Light minty freshness nips at increasingly sour lemon-oiled finish.
Easygoing summer session malt beverage (in a can) loads sugary yellow and pink grapefruit tang above soda-like spritz. Sparkling water crisping brightens citric lightness. Latent lemon-juiced wisp not far removed from a salted margarita. A worthy grapefruit-derived ale-ternative.
Skeptical limited edition Imperial Stout spreads roasted chocolate nuttiness atop hop-charred bittering. Smoked mocha malting, burnt coffee souring and raw molasses bittering influence walnut-hazelnut conflux and tepid black cherry snip.
Unsure if stylistic integrity is betrayed or if correct balance is achieved with sour ale-leaning German dunkel (in canned version). Certain odd complexities abound after cascading tan head settles above caramel-hued body. Fungi yeast earthiness inundates vinegary green apple and white grape tartness as well as bubbly champagne pucker, disrupting mild chocolate malting. Unduly dried orange musk and murky ashen walnut char congest embittered citric-spoiled finish. Expectant banana sweetness lost in the muddled mix.
Efficient canned brown ale brings dark-roasted walnut and creamy hazelnut to rangy mocha contingent. Black chocolate, sugared coffee, cocoa powder and peanut buttered nougat illusions reinforced by burnt caramel sweetness.
Faulty non-pasteurized light body (in canned version) needs richer Vienna malting and sharper hop thrust to overcome staid blonde ale profile. Spoiled-to-sugared citrus frontage picks up frisky carbolic spritz above stagnant cereal graining. Wafting floral nuances slip away.
Flimsy lawnmower fare (in canned version) loses spritzy citric zest to spoiled lemon souring and minor diacetyl buttering. Candied grapefruit, orange and banana tartness wavers beside herbal-nipped grassy hop dryness, mild cereal-grained crystal malting and musty sourdough yeast.
Swell hybridized doppelbock-rauchbier with silken velvet mouthfeel glides across the tongue as lively brown chocolate and toffee sweetness mellows into cherrywood-smoked peppery hop burn. Random cocoa nibs, date, fig and molasses undertones scour peat-smoked bottom. Tertiary bacon fat, glazed ham and campfire illusions waver.
Nondescript Seltzer-watered frontage fades slowly to subtle beechwood-smoked jalapeno peppering (with slight ‘spicy burn’). Roasted jalapeno jag ultimately contrasts corn syrupy sweetness, but its light-bodied aridity and lack of backbone debunk dour Mexican lager-like spice ale.
Dramatic mahogany-hued light-to-medium body bashes toasted nuttiness with roasted barleymalts and lactic coffee-soured chocolate malting. Earthen peat mustiness consumes variable cola, hazelnut, pecan and peanut illusions as well as minor maple molasses creaming.
Bittersweet clover honey adjunct reinforced by dark-roasted black patent malting, ground coffee roast and charred hop singe. Mild Blackstrap molasses, black tea, dark cocoa and charred nut illusions subside to sour lemon-peeled espresso midst. Phenolic raw-honeyed mocha finish receives dirty earthen musk.
