Mild amber hue downplays and disguises medicinal 7% alcohol insistence as sweet butterscotch frontage and ancillary raisin-prune depth amplify soured chocolate nose. Sedate mocha malt finish picks up minor cork dryness.
All posts by John Fortunato
INNIS & GUNN OAK AGED PALE ALE
Exemplary clear-bottled oak-barreled pale body layers soft whiskey-aged malt saturation atop smoked hickory and chipotle pepper illusions before honeyed butternut creaminess adds sweet relief. Perfectly mellow palate softener remains dry on tongue before reserved finish picks up distant sherry notes.
INDIAN RIVER HONEY AMBER ROSE
Busy lo-carb Vienna lager brewed with clover honey and Irish hips boasts woman’s health benefits. Dry hops counter sweet molasses malt creaminess. Graham cracker, vanilla wafer, and marzipan notes abound, though phenol astringency disrupts tender barley roasting. On second passing, floral lavender evanescence shelters soda-like ginger ale flow.
(INDIAN RIVER) BEACHSIDE SUN LIGHT
Horrid clear straw pale lager maintains squalid cabbage waft and soured vegetal taste, destroying rancid 96-calorie light beer. Phenol fizz hides bland graining and corn oily astringency
IMPERIAL CERVEJA VIVA
Musty-scented pale yellow pilsner overlays softest grain whiskey assurance with peppery hop fizz and sharp carbonation for light-bodied dearth. Diacetyl butterscotch nuance plagued by harsh phenolic bluster.
ICE HARBOR BARLEYWINE STYLE ALE
Abstruse amber-ruddy Brussels-laced dry bitter may lack richness of barleywine competition, but capacious sour mash waft, lilting spiced hop tingle, and polite mineral water flow suffice. Hints of bruised lemon, dried prune, plum, fig, and orange decorate backend.
(QUIDI VIDI) ICEBERG LAGER
Utilizing pure Canadian iceberg water, easy-to-consume moderation relies on slim barley sweetness, trim Scotch malt allure and thin glacial minerality. More flavorful than dank Coors and more sessionable than musty Budweiser; its crystalline water flow is fine for light pilsner palates.
(HUYGHE) MATEEN TRIPLE ALE
Mild spice-hopped citric souring enlivens brown-sugared crystal malt sweetness for cloudy ultra-light Belgian triple bock. Sweet barleywine illusions reach slender port finish.
(HUYGHE) LA GUILLOTINE BELGIAN ALE
Made at a family brewery, pale-toned foamy-headed strong ale retains better malted hop depth and fruitier esters than its cousin, Karibik Ale. Plus, it’s fuller, more distinct, and more enjoyable. Perfect balance between sweet wine sugaring and rich malt graining achieved, settling into luxurious nutmeg-spiced fruitcake finish. Tertiary cherry, pineapple, peach and pear undertones contrast peppery ginger snap. Lingered ethanol astringency brings alcoholic whir.
(HUYGHE) KARIBIK
In milky white 11.8-ounce bottle, shrewdly heady ale invigorates pleasant yeast resolve with crisp fizz-hopped bite and impending spicy citric mildness, putting subtly wheat-backed Belgian closer to white ale than more wine-y Belgians.
(HUYGHE) FRUBEE BANANA WITBIER
Saccharine tropical-fruited white beer offers sweetest banana-chipped banana taffy resilience overriding faintest orange-grapefruit souring and lapsing butterscotch dalliance. Sugar-candied lemon drop tang reinforces overripe banana buoyancy and meager coriander spicing, ultimately leaving throat dry. Cloy aritificial sweetness ultimately ruins hazy golden wit.
(HUYGHE) FLORIS FRAMBOISE
Prominent raspberry seed tartness leaves long-lasting impression on sticky sugar-tongued sweetness informing dry pink-headed purple-bodied soda-like malt beverage. Acetous grape esters pick up tingly cranberry dash sourly swaying flattened out raspberry ripeness.