Canned Mexican-styled Canadian brings sour apple wining to oily-hopped tin-foiled corn malted cheapness somewhat reminiscent of Schlitz. Light, foamy, and ill defined.
All posts by John Fortunato
LAKE PLACID VANILLA PORTER
Thick mahogany-marooned lactic porter leads with dark chocolate intensity deepened by coffee-roasted bitterness plus black licorice, raw molasses, and fig snips. Vanilla bean souring magnifies sugary maple spell and faint bourbon tinge, finishing even more bitter than it started.
LAKE PLACID UBU ALE
Likable garnet-hued English-styled ale brings lingered smoky malt dryness to brown sugared raisin-fig conflux, rye-breaded sourdough midst and sweet tobacco leaf crisping. Leathery earthen hop resin and grassy wheat-chaffed parch prompt pallid quasi-copper ale comparison, but unresolved Blackstrap molasses finish goes astray. On tap, dried fruited nature and smoked cocoa malting receive deeper acetone vigor.
LAKE PLACID INDIA PALE ALE
Initially labeled ‘Frostbite Pale Ale,’ crisp IPA gains luster as it pours. Floral-hopped red-fruited sweetness coats woodsy cedar-spruce-pine veneer and charred grain spine of coppery ale, gaining loud currant bitterness by creamy maple malt finish. Faraway apricot-tangerine-grapefruit delusion diminishes slightly over course.
LAKE PLACID 46’ER INDIA PALE ALE
Middling coppery IPA forfeits initial orange-peeled citric bitterness and spicy hop seasoning to grassy dried wheat stridency. Pallid floral yeast hints of rosebud, gypsum, and jasmine lose impact by blanched finish.
LAKEFRONT WHITE BEER
Mild hazy golden witbier provides faded coriander-clove spicing for polite orange peel bittering and bruised lemon souring. Slight herbal meander saunters though spritzy citric domain.
LAKEFRONT SNAKE CHASER IRISH STYLE STOUT
Frothy cascading pour, thick tan head, and opaque black body reminiscent of Guinness Stout, though nutty finish seems thinner. Efficient dry coffee ground bittering strikes palate initially as aromatic chalky cocoa waft hits nose. Milky chocolate addendum and creamy vanilla tease balance hop-charred roasted coffee frontage. Dried fruit tartness adds depth, nullifying distant astringent mustiness.
LAKEFRONT RIVERWEST STEIN LAGER
Appealing amber-glowed yellow-tinted dry lager surrounds wheat-cracked barley-toasted sweetness with mildly hopped orange-apricot-peach tang and soured cherry tartness. Honeyed malt finish brings out herbal tea, tobacco, and cola nut hints.
LAKEFRONT PUMPKIN LAGER
Sweet pumpkin pie essence enhanced by enticing cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove spicing. But murky grain-hopped sterility and pedestrian sour citrus reminder hamper black currant riptide to astringent gourd finish.
LAKEFRONT OKTOBERFEST LAGER
Desultory German-styled lager lacks character and resolve. Slick biscuit-y malt profile sinks into worsened orange-apricot souring fractionalizing flaccid floral-herbal fling. Latent tart cider twang runs into astringent phenol hop indifference.
LAKEFRONT NOMAD RED LAGER
Soothing buttery yeast flow and soft hop constraint reach short-lived malt finish as hints of berry jump off the tongue sporadically. Better than the usual macrobrewed suspects.
LAKEFRONT NEW GRIST SORGHUM BEER
Crisply clean clear golden session beer merely another bad gluton-free offshoot. Lime-fizzed sharp-hopped sourdough stint jolted by cloy 7-Up sucker punch. A trace of rice underscores sorghum slouch.