Exceptionally watery, flat, acrid persistence overwhelms lame rye dryness and honeyed citric astringency, making one yearn for quality wine-silken French brews. Skunked hop bitterness and salty brine harshness subside at unassuming metallic finish. Vile acetous bile.
All posts by John Fortunato
FISCHER D’ALSACE AMBER MALT LIQUOR
Cork-bottled Frenchie with dry-fizzed sweet wine essence remains strong yet unassuming. Creamy caramel-malted brew goes down smooth but lacks consistency and firm formal finish. Further taste tests reveal sharp-hopped orange-bruised Scotch-candied tartness. Malt liquor labeling is a canard.
(FISCHER D’ALSACE) ADELSCOTT MALT LIQUOR
Impressive 8.5-ounce malt liquor brewed with peat-smoked malts gains lingering creamy succulence as buttery Scotch whiskey richness and silky yeast smoothness inform mellow spiced-hop finish. Novices will find sweet barley flow appetizing while seasoned pros will enjoy finely detailed contour of this peaceful easy comforter.
FIRESTONE PALE ALE
Off dry amber-toned medium body allows sharp bitter hop pep to perk up middling cereal grain frontage, toasted almond backdrop, and vanilla dab. At brisk piney finish, perfume-y citric floral nuance scales boisterous hop barrier.
FIRESTONE DOUBLE BARREL ALE
Medium-bodied fruit-scented barley-oats-influenced amber ale brought down by dismal carbolic acidity, lowering bitter earthen hop integrity, dainty floral accent, and adept toasted caramel finish. Dubiously overt malt glut precludes serious consumption.
FIREHOUSE AMERICAN PALE ALE
Subtly impressive light-bodied fare with sweet honey-dipped cereal grains penetrating gently spice-hopped peach-tangerine tang. A hint of cornbread surfaces soon after.
FIRE COMPANY AMBER LAGER
Fire Engine 201 of New York City saluted by friendly deep amber grain-saturated neighborhood lager, building from peaceful malt sweetness to frugal roasted politeness, finishing a tad dank despite clean water freshness.
FIDDLER’S GREEN INDIA PALE ALE
Luscious aromatic fruits yield spry red apple, red grape, pink grapefruit, and yellow pear bouquet to counteract dry pine needled hop char. Floral illusions and recessive wood tinge register below surging orange peel bittering.
FIDDLER’S GREEN AMBER ALE
Neutral moderate-bodied pacifier (contract brewed by Matt Brewing) buries honeyed wheat and bread-y malts beneath mildly hop-embittered tangerine-grapefruit gambit. No clear-cut theme emerges for mainstream fodder.
FAXE DANISH LAGER
Wayward golden-cleared cumulous-headed pale lager integrates sweet corn-sugared grain affluence and cinnamon-honeyed wheat wafer motif with cheap malt liquor-like passage. Prickly hop fizz fades abruptly and watery washed-out finish confounds.
FARSONS LAGER & LIME SHANDY
Ineffectual cane-sugared lemon-lime theme affects carbolic 7-Up sweetness of yellow-bellied pearly-headed ‘malternative.’ A tad glutinous and cloy, muting bruised apple and red grapefruit nuances to ineefectual backdrop. As of ’08, no one’s made a distinct shandy.
FARSONS LACTO MILK STOUT
Subtly creamy maroon-hued lactose stout moderates delicate chocolate sweetness with soft hop-charred fizz, mild oats restraint, and quipped pecan-hazelnut dalliance, settling at milk-sugared caramel-burnt cappuccino finish. Fruitcaked cherry-vanilla-pastry troika works way into the mix.