Pour slowly aggressive tan-headed pale ale or bubbly suds will overflow. Herbal mineral graining and peppery hop bittering contrast citric effervescence. Basil, rosemary, parsley, celantro, lemongrass and saffron season dried apricot, pink grapefruit and tangelo illusions above tea-like backdrop. Caramelized Vienna malting caresses soft doughy underbelly.
All posts by John Fortunato
WILLIAMSBURG ALEWERKS RED MARKER ALE
Approachable amber-ruddied red ale brings tart fruited caramel malting to honeyed maple nuttiness, finishing closer to a delicately sweet brown ale. Tart red cherry, red apple and orange fruiting contrasts astringent alcohol burn and ESB-like leafy hop bite. Oats-toasted praline, pecan and walnut illusions round out its balanced profile.
STARR HILL THE LOVE WHEAT BEER
Dubious unfiltered hefeweizen brings sour lemon-wedged orange tartness to plantain-dried banana lilt and eye-squinting raspberry vinaigrette tinge. Light sourdough backdrop fades.
STARR HILL DOUBLE PLATINUM IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE
Dependable medium-bodied amber-cleared crossover for lighter pale ale thirsts despite bold 8% ABV and Double IPA tag. Casual citric-hopped bittering sticks to pine-sapped hemp-oiled tongue, but lacks thick resonation of richer stylistic competition. Sugar-caned caramel malt toasting embeds grapefruit-peeled orange rind prickle and sweet pineapple-mango-peach-pear-apricot conflux for nice contrast.
NEWCASTLE FOUNDERS ALE
A total misfire! Dubious soft-toned whiskey snip debunked by sour yeast pungency, minor corn oiling and stale breaded backbone. Subtle hop bittering lost to glutinous wheat bed of bland English-styled pale ale.
BARREL TROLLEY PALE ALE NO. 3
Bereft red-fruited hop spicing wraps around toasted caramel malting and cereal-grained minerality as murky flavor profile meanders. Distant apple-cherry-apricot conflux and ascending grapefruit-tangerine tang battle back minor metallic astringency and soily earthiness. (Contract brewed by Genesee Brewing, New York)
LOST RHINO NEW RIVER PALE ALE
Opulent pine-needled fruit spicing of an India Pale Ale meets the musty earthen peat dryness dabbing an English-styled Extra Special Bitter. Lacquered peach-pineapple-pear-tangerine tang binds mild crystal malt creaming and hard-candied sugaring to wheat biscuit backend. Grassy-hopped bottom picks up resinous undertone at citric finish. Betters most milder pale ales.
(BLUE DAWG) RASCAL’S WILD RED RASPBERRY LAGER
Cloy Shandy-like Anheuser-Busch offshoot (with fluffy pink head sitting atop opaque magenta body) mistaken for fruity soda pop. Corn syrupy raspberry tartness allows tertiary pineapple-candied cherry, blueberry and strawberry sugaring to saturate champagne-fizzed misfire. Unassuming 8% alcohol volume will attract wine cooler crowd.
(EAST COAST) KICK BACK ALE
Pedantic amber ale, closer to a nutty brown ale, suffers from indistinct flavor profile. Burnt-toasted nut roast inundates cardboard-y caramel malting and setback phenol hop astringency. Peanut-shelled pine nut finish gets soapy.
LEFT HAND STRANGER AMERICAN PALE ALE
Mild dry-bodied amber-yellowed moderation embellishes barley biscuit sweetness and rye-honeyed crystal malting with doughy notions. Prickly grapefruit-tinged lemon zest tingles floral-spiced grassy hop astringency and herbaceous vegetal tinge. A smoothly straightforward session beer whose name is a misnomer since there’s nothing ‘strange’ about this pleasantly ephemeral offering.
NAPA SMITH LOST DOG RED ALE
Exquisitely perplexing copper-hazed pleasantry brings dry fruited alacrity to honeyed maple malts and wintry spicing. Naval orange-peeled bittering softly embraces red apple, cherry and apricot musk as well as tertiary cinnamon-swirled nutmeg-allspice nicety. Resinous pine undertones, peat whiskey niche and medicinal 7.2% alcohol astringency deepen backend of assertive (if somewhat dischordant) delight that’s stylistically robust.
(DEL BORGO) 25 DODICI
Enticingly sour-fruited copper-burnished winter warmer brewed with ‘bitter orange pill’ retains Blackstrap molasses bittering over dank cellar-wafted musk. Orange-rotted dehydrated fig entry picks up vinous cider, dried apricot, sour white grape and green raisin murk as earthen black-peppered hops surge past contrasting candi-sugared sweetness. Heightened 9.5% alcohol volume hidden beneath musty fruit esters. A well-integrated seasonal never undone by lack of expectant wintry spicing.