Dried orange and apricot tartness plus peachy pineapple tanginess stay the course above pasty caramel-salted honeyed oats spine.
STONY CREEK DOUBLE RUFFLED DOUBLE IPA
All posts by John Fortunato
CHECKERSPOT ROBE LIFE DOUBLE IPA
Zestful lemony yellow grapefruit entry sparks orange-peeled sweetness and peachy mango-tangerine tang of fruited vodka-like 8.3% ABV Imperial IPA. Light pine resin underscores voluptuous tropical fruiting, picking up slight candy-coated tartness.
SMART ORGANIC IPA
Using organic barley-hops, Smart Beer became New York’s first organic brewery in 2016. Closer to a Brit-styled IPA with its dewy mossing and cellared fungi musk overtaking any bitter piney grapefruit expectancy – yet surprisingly diverting to dried-fruited raisin, prune and apricot sweetness. Molasses-honeyed sorghum syruping seems to coat the cocoa powdered bottom. A decent changeup.
LEFT HAND NITRO BELGIAN WHITE
On tap at Ambulance, smooth nitro-infused witbier retains softly frothed eclair creaminess for delicate orange-peeled coriander sweetness and tart lemon zip given mild celery-watered fungi musk that fades above placid pilsner-malted acidulated wheat.
LIQUID STATE YARD LION HEFEWEIZEN
Effervescent lemon spritz leaves banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness in the midst as white grape esters enter the easygoing summertime fray. Honeyed white wheat spine tingled.
HANGING HILLS MAILTRUCK PALE ALE
Orange-rotted lemon lime spunk contrasts rummy pineapple-candied tangerine sweetness above peaty compost soiling. At the dry finish, raspy citrus hop spicing flows.
OVERSHORES RAINMAN PALE ALE
Straightforward pale ale with tangy orange, apple and pear fruiting picks up light floral perfuming and slight grassy hop astringency above pasty cereal-grained pale malts.
GROOVE HEY PORTER… RYE RYE RYE
Demure rye malting just rich enough to anchor fudgy dark toffee and maple molasses sweetness contrasting hop-charred black chocolate bittering of bulky porter. Slight soy milking and black licorice onrush may seem offbeat, but ultimately, its sweet finish is not unlike a Sugar Daddy candy bar.
GROOVE MORN’N JOE BELGIAN STYLE BLONDE
In the can, dark roast coffee consumes front end of mocha-derived Belgian blonde. Its delicate pilsner-malted yellow fruit spicing maintains a fungi-cellared Belgian blonde influence, bringing lemon rind bittering (and mild limey pucker) to black coffee stead as espresso crema, dark chocolate and cafe latte remnants add to seductive java joust.
GROOVE KEEP IT CLEAN CREAM ALE
Easydrinking pale golden flatheaded cream ale with celery-watered crisping plies hop-dried grassy earthiness to champagne-dried green grape esters and mild herbage over rice-sugared white breaded pilsner malts.
GROOVE SCRANTON FRINGE ALE
Tidy red ale/ hazy IPA blend forwards straight-up lemony orange, apple and peach tanginess to mild grapefruit-peeled piney Chinook hops (of an IPA) with lightly spiced toasted amber graining (of a red ale).
GROOVE BROOKS DRIFT WHEAT ALE
Smooth easygoing pale wheat flagship lets cucumber-watered lemony orange rot and sparkling champagne effervescence merge atop white wheat spine for mild summertime refresher.
