Thinly beige-headed, garnet-bodied, burgundy-scented Flemish ale gathers oaken black cherry tartness, soured apple-raspberry rasp, and brown-sugared prune-fig-raisin skew to strengthen dry white wine impression. Vinous grape tannins uphold balsamic vinegar vigor. Heavy alcohol influence will make your head hazy, but dryly smooth quince-daubed cherry finish anesthetizes any damage.
All posts by John Fortunato
LIEFMANS GLUHKRIEK ALE
Fluttering tart cherry theme and sweet soda sugaring provide winning essence. Musty grain overtones and moderate hop bitterness never suffocate authentic cherry flavor. Dark burgundy-hued appearance misleading for such an easy-to-drink ale.
LIEFMANS DE BOOMGAARD TROPICALE
Peculiar lemony apricot musk rises out of corky floral auspices as nearly sickeningly sweet malt sugaring stirs carbolic soda flow. Salient mango-papaya-honeydew tropicalia gains hold above biscuit-y wheat base of tangy fruited golden dessert treat. Call it a peach lambic and you’d be closer.
LIEFMANS DE BOOMGAARD PECHE
Gummy sugar malting succumbs to cloying nature devaluing overripe peach-apricot setting of nebulous yellowish dullard. Diacetyl midst consumes leftover citric appeasement, sour cranberry-apple conflux, and dismal mouth-puckering malt-lacquered astringency.
LIEFMANS DE BOOMGAARD KRIEK
Judiciously tart red cherry pucker and generous pineapple-raspberry tang pace densely hopped magenta-pink dessert ale. White, yellow, and red grape tannins sieze the moment alongside stone-fruited grandeur. Grenadine reminder lurks below fruited malt sweetness.
LIEFMANS DE BOOMGAARD FRAMBOISE
More approachable but less enticing than Lindeman’s Framboise. Ruby-magenta-hued fruit ale brings circuitous raspberry tartness to tannic grape esters, medicinal black cherry tang and sour boysenberry-cranberry quip. Musk-y spicing absorbed by carbolic champagne-soda flow.
LICHER PILSNER
Sturdy clear golden white-headed German bitter fits classic dry-hopped pilsner tradition. Pungent hop oils counter corn-sugared wheat gluten to clean-watered salty bottom. Minor perfume, floral, and herbal illusions impact doughy midst of medium-bodied moderation.
LEINENKUGEL’S SUNSET WHEAT
Well balanced gold-hazed Belgian-styled witbier competes favorably with Blue Moon’s similar summery wheat brew. Deep blueberry waft matches blueberry muffin piquancy as lemony strawberry-pineapple accents caress peppery-hopped sour orange-candied tartness and coriander-nutmeg spicing to cereal-grained wheat biscuit bottom. Nothing jumps out as blanched fruity finish lacks pizzazz and solvent-like astringency expands.
LEINENKUGEL’S SUMMER SHANDY WEISS BEER W/ LEMONADE
Quenching light-bodied beige-hazed American wheat beer with natural lemonade flavoring maintains cloy lemon soda appeal and carbolic quinine water flow. Tart hard-candied Jolly Rancher souring deters frail cereal-grained corn malting.
LEINENKUGEL’S RED LAGER
Musty fruitiness, wavering grain-hopped bitterness, and dull barley sweetness unevenly meshed. Berry tones and distant chocolate soda fizz remain faint, but damned if this doesn’t conjure thoughts of being cheaper superficial alternative to Molson Export.
LEINENKUGEL’S ORIGINAL LAGER
Insignificant lager with uneasy barley-wheat mesh and dank orange rind lull hedging nearly horrid lemon wedge finish. Cheap sugary sweetness becomes cloy if warmed over.
LEINENKUGEL’S NORTHWOODS LAGER
Musty sour scent doesn’t bode well for bland barley-backed amber lager. Strident malt flow and watery finish fail to properly exploit faint cracked wheat inducement.