Dreary dried fruited pungency and bland black rye breading receive resinous pine-hopped spicing. Ruby red grapefruit, pineapple and tangerine illusions flutter by cocoa-dried anise stickiness to no avail. Tertiary chocolate liqueur, cola nut, caramel nougat and Baker’s chocolate undertones fail to properly register.
Meritorious yellow-hazed Belgian tripel brings candi-sugared sweetness and citron-like alcohol burn to white-peppered herbal nip. Lemony grapefruit, peach, pear, apple and pineapple illusions override slight coriander-clove spicing to butterscotch malted bottom. Tertiary banana daiquiri nuance infiltrates phenolic boozing at fruitful finish of celebratory 19th anniversary vintage.
Lacquered dried fruiting picks up immediate vodka-like alcohol burn and juniper-hopped bittering over floral perfumed spicing for robust generic-labeled Belgo-American hybrid. Raisin, fig and cherry battle for position ahead of tropical lemon-banana-grapefruit-peach conflux and cotton-candied crystal malting.
Excellent canned bitter brings grapefruit-peeled lemon zest and orange rind briskness to piney juniper-hopped bittering, developing nicely over soft crystal malt bed by citron finish. Tangy peach-pineapple-mango-papaya tropicalia advances herbaceous floral nuances (black tea, hibiscus and lotus).
Though its sharp hop bittering emboldens the briskly carbolic front end, scaring away less seasoned pale ale imbibers, gnarly vodka-like alcohol burn, wafting compost flutter and rusty metallic sheen overwhelm expectant orange-grapefruit-pineapple-quince fruiting of canned medium body. Backsided sourdough breading feels right but vegetal tinge disrupts murky flavor profile.
Raspy yellow-fruited American-style wheat ale (circa 2012) retains protracted Saison-like lemon souring and raw-honeyed spicing. Woody Chinook hop dryness contrasts slim malted rye backdrop. Halfway to an acidic sour ale; lacking only the stylistic brettanomyces pungency.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, German-spawned moderation (from an ancient recipe) stays sourer than lacto-fermented Berliner Wiess styling. Acetous lemon-limed mandarin orange tingle, tannic white-wined respite and leathery limestone acridity coat salt-watered minerality. Teasing coriander spicing, slight celantro quip and advertised herbal-spiced Old Bay seasoning found at deep recess.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, unspecific 2012 version places crisp hop sharpness above subdued autumnal gourd expectancy and wispy lemon-salted phenol spicing. Light crystal malt creaming never sweetens enough to contrast musty earthen leathering, pumpernickel-seeded breading and vegetal squash-pumpkin simmer. Moldy fig, pecan, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardomom illusions barely register below the haphazard mix.
