Fluffy eggshell-headed pale-hazed bone-dry softie drops phenol aromatics into peppery hop-spiced orange peel bitterness juxtaposing sour fruited malt prowl. Melon, kiwi, and tangerine hints echo rising grapefruit tide. Straw wheat and toasted oats backend lithe soft-watered simplicity.
All posts by John Fortunato
(CASCO BAY) CARRABASSETT HARVEST ALE
Pleasing honeyed wheat sweetness welcomes dry-hopped earthiness and everlasting sweet-grained hazelnut impression. Coarse walnut hint and stingy floral dab become phenol, exposing brittle toasted bread bottom.
CASCADE LAKES ROOSTER TAIL ALE
Mildly embittered, briskly hopped golden ale counters sugary lemondrop dearth and acidic citrus girth with slick malt sweetness to tingly lightweight finish. But minor floral seasoning lacks assertion.
CASCADE LAKES MONKEY FACE PORTER
Frothy ebony-hued ruby-highlighted dry porter pleats sour coffee-malt seduction and nutty roast over earthy bottom. But heavy carbonation and acidic sharpness overwhelm creamy texture, thin hop din, and black licorice finish.
CASCADE LAKES INDIA PALE ALE
Brilliant spruce nose adorns piney-hopped frontage and pale malt backbone as floral notes coerce sour grapefruit acerbity, but moderate citric-spiced finish lacks depth.
CASABLANCA LAGER
Despite Moroccan lineage, thin pale body resembles South of the Border pilsners with its musty-grained dry hop astringency and toasted barley tease. Worse, moderate-bodied drool can’t escape cardboard tendency. Herbal mint tinge seems displaced.
CARTA BLANCA LAGER
Astringent soft-bodied golden premium gathers crystal malt constraint and corn-dried scruff to gentle metallic hop finish. An unassuming watery pale lager generic amateurs will consume.
CAROLINA VIENNA STYLE LAGER
Decent amber-coppered lager with burnt wood tones, smoked molasses malts, and sweet barley-rye continuance solicits spice-hopped elegance. Second passing finds curacao orange illusion losing luster by predictable cereal-grained finish.
CAROLINA PALE ALE
Clear yellow-hued ale counters crystal malt sweetness with toasted hop dryness as soured floral yeast and negligible citric undertones provide mild IPA-like bitterness.
CAROLINA NUT BROWN ALE
Iced coffee affirmation deepens ashy mocha dryness, prickly burnt hop bitterness, dry wood tone, and smoked spicing. Cereal grains sweeten oily macadamia-hazelnut-walnut finish of complacent chestnut-hued fare.
CAROLINA LIGHT PILSNER
84-calorie lemon-limed spritzer with dank sourdough malting gets sulfuric by fey white bread finish. Only its sunny citric disposition saves this from disgust.
CAROLINA BLONDE
Simplistic pilsner-styled blonde ale with pearly head, thinly clouded body, scant sourdough yeast frontage, and slim citrus/ green apple souring lacks prevalent flavor. Second sip reveals wet grass, barnyard, horsehide, and raw wheat infiltration overhauling benign phenol tenacity. In slim black canned version, cloying cheap whiskey malting lowers white breaded appeal. Still, lemony hop-spiced fizz, maize-dried core, and light watery finish bests Coors, Miller, and other macrobrew duds.