Fine black chocolate-y walnut-macadamia theme enforced by caramelized maple-sapped vanilla latte creaminess. Though too light and watery to compete with serious nut brown challengers, understated butterscotch appeal suits lighter tastes well. (Now brewed in Saratoga Springs, New York).
All posts by John Fortunato
SPANISH PEAKS MONTEREY PALE ALE
Almond-toasted barley-roasted flaked oats counter spiced hop dryness that recedes by slim citric-teased finish. Closer to a sweet amber ale.
SPANISH PEAKS MONTEREY LAGER
Complacently phenol light-bodied lager conjures comparisons to limpid South of the Border macrobrews such as Corona. Understated roasted barley hesitance, dry hop-fizz, and dour sourdough thinness appease illusive pumpkin-spiced dusting.
SPANISH PEAKS BLACK DOG HONEY RASPBERRY ALE
Honeyed copper-hazed amber ale picks up raspy raspberry seed tartness and sour black cherry resin as caramelized biscuit-y wheat bottom sweetens mellowed hops. But soap-watered finish sterilizes any up-front stability. Note: In 2004, finer California version sampled.
SPANISH PEAKS CRYSTAL WEISS
Wisconsin is now the fifth state brewing Spanish Peaks middling selection. This ‘American-styled clear wheat beer,’ quaffed in ’08, lacks specific character. Minor Saaz hop bittering and rinsed-out lemon sourness sidle cardboard-y butterscotch drear. Feigned banana-clove adjuncts whimper to bland carbolic finish.
SPANISH PEAKS BLACK DOG ALE
Warbled mildly carbonated coppery-hued medium-bodied English-styled amber ale pits sugary corn malt sweetness against oncoming musty peat, dry chestnut, and grape nut illusions. Toasted mineral-grained hop meander scarcely embitters tinny finish, stagnating sketchy Scotch slip. ’07 version bottled at Maryland’s Wild Goose Brewery possessed gentle honeyed caramel creaminess countering woody Chinook-hopped astringency and dried fruit bunker.
SOUTHPAW LIGHT PILSNER
Makers of fair Icehouse Lager offer unexpectedly high 5% alcohol-skewed ‘double-hopped’ light pils with tongue-tickling fizzy hop pep and white-breaded sustenance.
SOUTHERN TIER UN-EARTHLY IMPERIAL I.P.A.
Vibrant reddish nickel-glowed ‘double I.P.A.’ posits freshly embittered floral-perfumed pine hops against illustrious candi-sugared tropical fruit thrust and creamy vanilla-butterscotch sweep. Tangy pineapple-mango-cherry-nectarine-peach frontage gains corresponding orange-bruised grapefruit juiciness above cereal-grained almond-toasted flaked oats spine, perfectly countering wet Cascade-Centennial-Chinook hopping. Betters similarly styled Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale.
SOUTHERN TIER RASPBERRY WHEAT
Floral perfume-hopped Pez-like raspberry tartness and soda-like alco-pop flow cannot overcome musty cereal-grained murk. Prickly carbolic fizz buries sweet wheat backbone while minor soapiness restrains lime-y mineral frolic. On second tasting, creamier caramel malts, tarter raspberry insistence, and tertiary blackberry-boysenberry-cranberry-black cherry illusions upped rating.
SOUTHERN TIER RASPBERRY PORTER
Perfectly balanced porter pile-drives tangy raspberry sweetness atop sharp-hopped nutmeg-clove spicing, chalky brown chocolate wedge, and grazed hazelnut haze. Chocolate-covered raspberry jelly and cherry cordial illusions ascend.
SOUTHERN TIER PORTER
Expressive dry-bodied dark brown porter stays chewy, if not particularly rich. Charred hop roast affects oily burnt coffee dryness countering caramelized black chocolate-y cocoa malting. Sour espresso bean finish overrides earthen minerality and wood-charred tobacco chew tarring. Black cherry and cola nut illusions waver. Sticky lace coats glass and smoky ash aroma persists.
SOUTHERN TIER PILSNER
Tantalizing grapefruit whiff hits nose before sharp fruited hops and grassy wheat merge for grain-deepened midst. Sunny grapefruit-lemon rind tartness and toasted almond respite loom at busy finish, helping fabulous straw-hued medium body compete favorably with bitterer New York competitor Brooklyn Pilsner.