Dependable Czech-styled pilsner tosses brisk lemon-seeded tartness and muted lemongrass spicing at mild grassy hop bittering. Dark floral notions, muted vegetal herbing and doughy fresh breading get spread across the buttery saltine backbone.
All posts by John Fortunato
POINT WHOLE HOG PUMPKIN ALE
Compelling autumnal full body tastes like a scrumptious pumpkin-spiced gingerbread cookie with whipped cream topping. Sweet mulling-spiced pumpkin pie midst never relents as nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice rush to the top alongside the ancillary Marachino cherry uprising, pushing this 2012 limited release to great heights. Bawdy boozers will welcome its sharp grain alcohol snip.
RUSSIAN RIVER & SIERRA NEVADA BRUX DOMESTICATED SOUR ALE
Approachably smooth golden-coppered ‘mild sour ale’ will please lighter thirsts looking to crossover. Musky horseblanketed barnyard leathering and brettanomyces funk from a wild yeast strain dig into floral-dried citric frontage. Loud champagne-like carbolic fizz enjoins lemon-juiced mango, pineapple and melon illusions as well as vinous green grape, tart Granny Smith apple and oaken cherry undertones. Pickled ginger souring and mustard dill saucing add depth. Honeyed herbal whim brings tertiary lemongrass, parsley, sage and honeysuckle notions to the rye malted backend. Like a zesty lemon spritz, only much busier and complex.
RUSHING DUCK BEANHEAD COFFEE PORTER
On tap at Cable Beverage, rich black coffee roast inundates wood-burnt hop bittering and oats-charred dark chocolate malting. Green coffee bean extract sweetens by the time Blackstrap molasses, pine sap, hickory smoke, cocoa and espresso undertones deepen its lusty resolve.
RUSHING DUCK NAYSAYER PALE ALE
On tap at Cable Beverage, well-rounded medium-bodied pale ale utilizes brisk West Coast-styled IPA fruiting to louden its resolve. Piquant grapefruit peel bittering, dry wood tone and grassy hop grounding contrast floral-bound orange, cherry, peach, pineapple, grape, apple and tangerine fruiting. Nearly exquisite.
LONG TRAIL IMPERIAL PUMPKIN ALE
Dryer and more alcohol burnt (8%) than most stylistic competitors, 2012 autumnal seasonal takes sinewy gourd-spiced bittering to whiskey-licked medicinal candied finish. Metallic astringency absorbs nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cinnamon spicing plus red cherry, orange and tangerine snip, leaving slight vegetal whim at the backend. Serve to open-minded British bitter imbibers during Octoberfest as a musky alternative.
TERRAPIN/ SHMALTZ REUNION ALE (2012)
Invitingly diverted cinnamon-toasted Graham cracker frontage picks up huge dextrose-sugared cocoa nibs/ vanilla conflux for uniquely hybridized brown ale. Beneath, soft liquor-stained vodka smoothing cuts through sharp dried fruited spell and Cafe Du Mond chicory coffee niche. In deep recess, almondine, chestnut, toffee and milky Yoo-Hoo chocolate illusions add further richness.
CLOWN SHOES VAMPIRE SLAYER SMOKED IMPERIAL STOUT
Broad-ranging lactic full body allows ‘vampire killing stakes,’ malt-smoked hickory and ashen resin to promulgate wood-burnt bittering contrasted by everlasting milk-sugared dark chocolate theme. Relaxing bourbon vanilla and Jack Daniels whiskey tones waver beside dried-fruited black cherry, raisin and fig snip as well as wispy anise, cardomom and black currant nuances. Mild espresso tinge fortifies rich molasses-sweetened mocha finish.
CISCO ISLAND RESERVE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Dissuasive full-bodied stout unconvincingly blends deep anise richness into molasses-buttered pumpernickel breading, Tootsie Roll-like sweetness and mild dark-roasted coffee bittering. Furthermore, despite its softly creamed Godiva chocolate froth and tertiary brown-sugared cola-hazelnut roast, the expansive flavonoids don’t mesh as well as more regimented and stylistically specific Imperials marketed towards mocha lovers.
RUCKUS EUPHORIA BELGIAN-STYLE TRIPEL
Stimulatingly euphoric ‘ale brewed with spices’ places candi-sugared yeast and sweetly soured citric fruiting above soft-hopped sourdough breading. Subtle ethanol burn scours lemony orange juicing, tangy cherry-peach-canteloupe-melon-pineapple gleam, ripened banana sweetness and withering white grape tannins as spice-racked white peppering contrasts almond-buttered butterscotch and vanilla dalliance.
SIERRA NEVADA BEER CAMP FLORAL I.P.A.
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, vaguely defined English-styled India Pale Ale nonetheless scores points for intriguing hybridized blend. ‘Floral’ rose hips, rose petal, honeysuckle, dandelion, lavender and wildflower illusions merely play backup for lacquered lemon-orange-grapefruit zest, resinous hop-oiled pine needling and white-peppered tea-leafed herbage. Sweet caramel malted backbone brings sugary resolve to hop-prickled fruited floral frolic, negating phenol-spiced metallic reminder.
SIERRA NEVADA BEER CAMP OATMEAL STOUT
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, middling full-bodied after dinner drink (a.k.a. Snowed In Imperial Oatmeal Stout) retains silken dark-brown chocolate creaminess over rolled oats-smoked cocoa beaning and mild molasses-draped caramelization. Bourbon vanilla-extracted serenity hits the midst alongside soy-milked espresso tinge, teasing fennel-anise nip and restraint nuttiness. But slick mocha finish allows slight plasticity to sully its rangy profile.
