Category Archives: Beers A-Z

ROY PITZ BEST BLONDE (WITH LEMON ZEST)

January 28, 2013Beers A-ZkolschJohn Fortunato

Sessionable soft-watered Kolsch conveniently hides advertised lemon zest behind grain-toasted pale malt profile. Stylistic grassy-hopped citric fruiting and musty mead-honeyed wheat wining relegated by saltine cracker-like neutrality. Nice snacktime moderation for Blue Collar thirsts.

ROY PITZ LUDWIG’S REVENGE DARK LAGER

January 28, 2013Beers A-Zdark lagerJohn Fortunato

Intriguing rauchbier styling brings beechwood-kilned birch char, cedar burn and peat smoke to mild coffee-roasted chocolate malting. Cured meat sedation secures initial pilsner-malted smokiness as well as oncoming peanut-shelled Brazil nut and walnut influence. Ashen oats-toasted cocoa bean finish reinforces camp-fired dark-smoked lager.

BRECKENRIDGE CHRISTMAS ALE

January 28, 2013Beers A-Zwinter aleJohn Fortunato

Unbound 2012 winter warmer, less dependent on usual holiday spicing than conventional Christmastime fare, begs for more distinct flavor profile. Dewy peat-smoked earthiness, ashen tobacco-dried chocolate malting and dark caramel sweetness serenade caraway-crusted rye-floured molasses-sapped black breading. But brown-sugared cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice seasoning and tertiary plum-fig-date conflux need richer assertion.

FRANKENMUTH OKTOBERFEST

January 28, 2013Beers A-ZoktoberfestJohn Fortunato

Nebulous copper-toned marzen must be better on tap. Bottled version loses autumnal gourd spicing to dry wooded hop coarsening that buries lightly toasted caramel malting until metallic soapiness sets in.

MOLSON CANADIAN 67 SUBLIME

January 28, 2013Beers A-Zmalt beverageJohn Fortunato

Soda-popped lo-cal malt beverage sabotaged by artificial lemon-limed flavoring and cloying corn syrup pasting. Combine a salted Margarita with 7-Up and ginger ale, then mix in washed-out strawberry and watermelon nuances and serve as soapy light lagered ‘malternative’ to wine cooler fems.

HARVIESTOUN SCHIEHALLION LAGER

January 28, 2013Beers A-Zpale lagerJohn Fortunato

Serene warm-fermented pale lager brings fresh-watered mountainside dewy mist and marble rye sourdough breading to tangy grapefruit-peeled pineapple bittering. Lightly salted dry-hopped spicing tingles raw-honeyed ginger tea backdrop at billowy wheat biscuit bottom. Easygoing sessionable fare ultimately mingles light lagered baked breading with spritzy citric pale ale flare.

HOF TEN DORMAAL WHITE GOLD

January 28, 2013Beers A-Zflemish aleJohn Fortunato

Challenging Flemish Red/ saison hybrid (a.k.a. Wit Goud) brings wild Belgian yeast funk to honey-spiced citric souring and olfactory mineral-grained fungi cellaring. Gin-juiced vermouth and Courvoisier illusions entangle orange-rotted fig, peach and tangerine dry spell, leathery barnyard acridity and herbal chicory-rooted green tea notion.

(TROIS DAMES) GRANDE DAME OUD BRUIN

January 28, 2013Beers A-ZFLANDERS BROWN ALEJohn Fortunato

Dramatic Flanders Sour Brown contrasts ruddish ruby red hue against lighter vinous white wining for lactic brettanomyces-soured hybrid. Smoothly ultra-dry balsamic vinegaring picks up tannic green grape pungency, peppery raspberry vinaigrette rasp, strawberry-seeded cranberry pucker, lemon-peeled lime juicing and green apple wisp. Tart cherry rhubuarb saucing wavers. Musty oaken barnyard leathering and earthen bark-dried respite reinforce sour ale tendencies.

(APOSTELBRAU) DINKEL BOCK

January 28, 2013Beers A-ZbockJohn Fortunato

On tap at Coalhouse Pizza, refreshing clean-watered minerality sets up bronze-hazed pale-malted spring bock. Resinous spelt-hopped politeness allows dainty banana, tangerine and dried fig fruiting to come aboard. Minor alcohol burn at murky tannic grape finish picks up dank mildewed wellwater musk.

OMMEGANG RARE VOS AMBER ALE (CAFE-STYLE)

January 28, 2013Beers A-ZBelgian pale aleJohn Fortunato

Perfectly rounded and carefully updated cafe-styled Belgian pale ale squeezes advertised ‘sweet orange peel, grains of paradise and coriander’ into salt ‘n peppered mineral graining, musty cellar-like yeast funk and mild tea-leafed hop bittering. Lemon zest, nectarine, tangerine, peach and plum illusions fortify candi-sugared banana bubblegum latency of upscale amber ale.

JANDRAIN-JANDRENOUILLE IV SAISON

January 10, 2013Beers A-ZsaisonJohn Fortunato

Easygoing Belgian farmhouse ale scatters honeyed lemondrop souring across bubbly champagne grape prickle, musty white-peppered herbal fungi and molasses-draped black rye malts. Juicy pineapple, peach, banana, tangerine, nectarine and melon fruiting fortifies resinous lemongrass, chamomile, rosemary, thyme and sage undertones. Biscuit-y baked-breaded sourdough bottom stays firm.

LOST ABBEY WITCHES WIT

January 10, 2013Beers A-ZwitbierJohn Fortunato

Soft-toned lemon-limed honey spicing pleats mild yellow grapefruit bittering and prickly white-peppered floral hop perfuming to wheat-buttered sourdough base of yellow-clouded moderation. Gose-like salty coriander respite recalls soothing sour ale. Ancillary orange blossom, curacao orange, white peach, lemon curd, lemongrass, lemon verbena and marmalade illusions fill out backend nicely.

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