Cordial yellow-canned all-malt India Pale Ale plies buttery almond, sugared oats, and honeyed marzipan to zesty floral-hopped tangerine tang. Sweet hazelnut-almond reminder nips toasted barley base. Tinny corrosion doesn’t negatively affect biscuit-y finish. Unlike most (bottled) IPA’s, lacks pronounced wood chip burnt hop-spiced bittering.
All posts by John Fortunato
BUTTERNUTS PORKSLAP PALE ALE
Weirdly interesting amber-hued farmhouse ale with pink pigged label reveals unexpected herbaceous character anchoring grapefruit rind dryness and wood-smoked bacon ambience. Subtle juniper, currant, ginger, and floral notes weave through mint-y interlude. But nondescript finish flounders alongside dissipated carbonation.
BUTTERNUTS HEINNIEWEISSE
Brewed in a converted dairy barn, this green-canned German wheat-styled farmhouse ale retains moderate-bodied nature. Lemony hop spritz accentuates unripe banana frontage, but receding butterscotch and creamed corn illusions barely augment yellow-fruited theme appeasing sugared hard candy tartness.
BUTTERFIELD MT. WHITNEY PALE ALE
Pronounced mocha malt creaminess and prickly hop spicing illuminate beguiling fruitiness. Concordant yeast-thickened sinew richer than lighter-bodied pale ale competition. Roasted barley-nut insurgence heightens exquisite backend.
BUTTERFIELD BRIDALVEIL AMBER ALE
Sugared mocha malts perk up steadfast amber. Mildly creamy laid-back casualness is its own reward, as maple-sapped vanilla and butterscotch illusions sweeten grainy backdrop. A true lightweight champ.
BUTTE CREEK ROLAND RED ALE
Prune hue, good head retention, and slim yeast particles visible for flatly carbonated barley roasted amber ale stylistically closer to a ‘maltier’ E.S.B. But raisin-esque middle lacks body and initial malt sweetness fades.
BUTTE CREEK ORGANIC PORTER
Reminiscent of reserved brown ale with its caramelized almond-hazelnut toasting and roasted hop setting. Sweet honeyed oats buttress unrefined chocolate malts and dried tobacco bitterness mildly coercing slight vegetal aftertaste.
BUTTE CREEK ORGANIC PILSNER
Dry straw-hued pearl-headed medium body integrates raw-grained husked wheat bittering with earthen hop simmer. Fresh mint tingles tongue tersely and lemongrass lick lingers lightly.
BUTTE CREEK ORGANIC INDIA PALE ALE
Extremely bitter-hopped frontage overwhelms fruited caramelized malting and red grapefruit tang of reddish amber dry body. Dusted floral notes and woody hints bedeck backend.
BUTTE CREEK ORGANIC ALE
Astringent wheat-chaffed mineral-grained opening and faded pale malt nose absorb alcohol-smitten single malt Scotch smoothness reminiscent of finer English ales. Honeyed maize buttering underscores medium-bodied sedative.
(BURTON BRIDGE) OLDE EXPENSIVE ALE
Explosively carbonated roasted hop bitterness detailed by sedimentary-grained chocolate nuttiness typifying regal English strong ale posing as mild winter warmer. At midst, porter-like mocha creaminess bolsters candied apple, toffee, and cherry sweetness to honey-spiced cocoa finish.
(BURTON BRIDGE) EMPIRE INDIA PALE ALE
Label celebrates game of cricket; strong liquid inside signifies great English IPA tradition. Heavily carbonated viscous rust setting with suspended yeast particles given burnt wood tone and orange peel smidgen for initial assertion. Definitive hop bitterness consumes smoked malt finish as lusty butterscotch awakening battles back sulfuric acerbity.