Celebrating brewer’s 11th anniversary with 11.7% alcohol heft, buoyantly tropical fruited delight combines tangiest orange-grapefruit-peach gumption of fullest bodied IPA’s with heavily wood-chipped spruce hops (resonating brightly as its cascading head takes a minute to settle atop the butterscotch-hazed belly). Tidy tobacco-dried barley roast secures the bottom end. Well done.
All posts by John Fortunato
WEYERBACHER E.S.B. ALE
Harshly carbolic, foam-ridden Bitter folds subdued cardboard graining beneath honeyed biscuit vestige and earthen hops. But alcohol coarsening and diacetyl nature ravage dry toffee smidgen.
WEYERBACHER EASTON PALE ALE
Lehigh Valley microbrew with congenial rural setting on label matching plain grain bane and rustic barnyard earthiness inside the bottle. Best suited for post-teens in need of pounding down a few, this highly carbonated malt-induced middle-of-the-road loafer from God’s Country needs better distinction to be considered serious pale ale.
WEYERBACHER DECADENCE
Curious 10th anniversary American strong ale (brewed with honeyed spices) suffuses resounding eucalyptus-anise nosing with sugary malt stickiness, curacao orange reminder, and rare cardamom-spiced botanical gentian seduction. Prune-date sequel sets up thorough nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, and rotting pumpkin autumnal seasoning girding fleeting barleywine-like finish. An herbal remedy?
WEYERBACHER BLITHERING IDIOT BARLEYWINE ALE
Silly-named barleywine with molasses-candied raisin-prune overtones and cherry brandy follow-up receives peppery hop spicing. Lively berry tartness, sugary butterscotch malting and boozy rum-bourbon niche engage dry mocha center as rich helles bock-like almond toasting ascends. Meager fig-plum din and teasing mint stint fade.
WEYERBACHER BLASPHEMY ALE
Spectacular oak-barrel aged 11.8% alcohol-doused quadrupel places creamy vanilla easement next to silken bourbon frontage and chocolate-y cherry Kirsch midst. Brown sugared molasses sap enriches rum-soaked raisin, plum and prune waver. Cherry-pureed cognac, brandy and whiskey licks smooth out soft banana-pear-honeydew fruiting.
WEYERBACHER BLANCHE BELGIAN-STYLE WIT
Straw-glazed turbidity saddles soft summery witbier. Ripe banana persistence, crisp citric-hopped succor, mellow coriander-clove spicing, and black-peppered lemongrass pitch accumulate soured wheat subsidy. Banana-caked vanilla-butterscotch finish depleted by minor acidity.
WEYERBACHER BLACK HOLE ALE
Inviting mahogany-hued dark ale suffuses dry mocha-chocolate frontage with sugary caramel-toffee-molasses sweetness, hemming in burnt oak, iced coffee, and raisin-fig twinge. Casual espresso notes deepen nutty grain finish of viable porter-styled humdinger.
WEYERBACHER BELGIAN STYLE TRIPPEL
Precursor to Weyerbacher’s Merry Monks Ale. Ripe cherry-grape tang attracts nifty barleywine surge and a dash of herbal mint or clove spicing to creamy caramel center. Candi-sugared sweet ‘n sour honey malting enhances tertiary raisin-plum tartness, providing further full-bodied luster. An undeniably wonderful Belgian knockoff.
WEYERBACHER AUTUMN FEST ALE
Autumnal auburn amber acquaints earthen chestnut palate with caramel chocolate, sour cocoa, and lively citrus adjuncts. Syrupy maple sinew evaporates too quickly, allowing fizzy hops to inefficiently lighten its terse barley roast and leathery vegetal-glazed tobacco leaf dryness.
WESTMALLE TRAPPIST TRIPLE BIER
Pour slowly attractive gold-hazed fruit-scented alcohol-sharpened dark beer. Buttery mocha malts buttress tangy citrus frontage and ravishing French wine serenity cresting at hushed spice-hopped finish. Some creaminess ensues, but too timidly for ‘triple.’
WESTMALLE TRAPPIST DOUBLE BIER
Dry prune-hued medium body with sweet liqueur template settles to caramelized marzipan midst, then alcoholic brandy finish. Raisin, plum, and port notes gently speckle honeyed chocolate malts.