Beating its hackneyed gluten-free competition with mild ginger soda flow, roasted Vienna-like malting, and teensy apple-cherry-strawberry souring, this clear amber pale lager with bubbly flesh-toned head lifts cloy sorghum-grained sugaring atop evaporative phenol Cascade hop bittering and wobbly metallic twinge.
All posts by John Fortunato
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) JACK’S PUMPKIN SPICE ALE
Up-front pumpkin pie essence thwarted by diacetyl nature, as soapy vanilla malts and weak spiced hops beget fey metallic finish. Narrow clove-allspice-cinnamon-nutmeg passage and muted banana quip too unassuming for watery light-bodied fizzle.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) ELK MOUNTAIN AMBER ALE
The King of Beers goes to New Hampshire to brew this reddish wintry amber? That’s right! A fine sweet yeast base and unassuming mineral grains provide easy flow. Good for novices, but too lackluster for pros.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) BUD LIGHT LIME
Impossibly pale-bodied, clear-bottled, gimmicky Miller Chill knockoff released ’08 (one year after Miller’s equally dull alternative malt beverage). Salty margarita astringency, lemon lime-y fizz, and mild agave twist leave throat instantly parched. Dull white bread midst debunks watered down citric club soda/ ginger ale nuisance.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) BUD ICE
In weird short-neck hourglass bottle, expectant beechwood flavoring diminished by astringent cooked vegetal quell and cloy corn-sugared malts. Bruised lemon fizz seems oblivious.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) BEACH BUM BLONDE ALE
Pleasant light-bodied clear straw summer seasonal places sharply spiced lemony hop tingle above paltry sourdough serenity. Dewy, grassy earthiness and trifling floral tinge tease coriander-backed banana-quince wisp.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) B’e’
Pale bodied energy drink with ginseng and guarana extract pronounced ‘b to the e power’ (or beer energy) competes with Red Bull since its horridly cloying malt liquor appeal poses as preposterous malternative. Tropical guava-pineapple-mango charade and strawberry-raspberry waft upset by sticky soda mouthfeel. Yuck!
ANHEUSER-BUSCH BAREKNUCKLE STOUT
Mediocre frothy tan-headed mahogany-bodied macro with surging cascading bubbles and Guinness-like nitro flow. Dry nutty overture and roasted hop support dissipate for burnt coffee spell, losing smooth creaminess by watery finish.
ANGEL CITY ALE
Brown-sugared caramel malt sweetness parlays mineral-grained hop-smoked light-bodied ale to above average status. Vinous ester-y grape sourness simmers beneath metallic Scotch-soaked alcohol burn.
ANDREW’S ST. NICK’S PORTER
Dry Scotch malts play off powdery chocolate, mocha latte, and burnt caramel illusions as peat-smoked earthiness soaks impending black cherry skin acridity ’til roasted coffee finish haunts old St. Nick’s.
ANDREW’S ENGLISH PALE ALE
Bright citric nose enjoins soothing barley-oats confluence, dry pumpernickel-rye reminder, and distant piney floral hints as sourdough sways upward. Minor juicy grapefruit souring embitters cocoa malts, consuming dense alcoholic acidity.
ANDES RED LAGER
Clover honey waft prefigures corn cereal buoyancy, creamy caramel malt seduction, and intervening chalky mocha-cocoa souring as tamped down hops fortify buttery finish of fine pale amber. Slight departure from usual grain-based South American beers.