Bettering most in its moderate-bodied class, inviting lawnmower fodder keeps it simple. Silken sourdough yeast frontage is drier than Mayflower’s similarly-styled Pale Ale. Slim citric tease and minimal floral spicing caress buttered baked bread finish. A touch of honeycomb sweetens the delicate wheat spine. Elegant, yet approachable, and worthy of mass appeal.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
(FLYING DOG) PEARL NECKLACE OYSTER STOUT
Ambitious dry stout provides salty oyster-shelled brining to immediate coffee bean roast and lactic cocoa-powdered dark chocolate follow-up. Bittersweet vanilla seeding casually strolls across nutty java efficacy and soft wood-scorched hop char. Tertiary pine tar, charcoal and chewing tobacco undertones simmer beneath creamy mochaccino-espresso dalliance. Initial coffee thrust peters out a tad, but mocha-bound medium-full body stays soothingly robust. On tap at Triton, local Rappahannock oysters brought creamy sedation to medium-roast coffee overtones, dry-hopped cola nuttiness, dark chocolate bittering, dark cherry hints and light Kahlua snips of updated 2016 version.
GREY SAIL FLAGSHIP ALE
On tap at Mews (and available in cans), polite moderate-bodied cream ale makes for an easygoing, approachable session beer. Dry wood-toned hop spicing creases honeyed citric easement above crowded biscuit malt bottom. Baked bread, wheat toast and baguette illusions provide restrained alacrity.
SCHNEIDER MEIN NELSON SAUVIN
On tap at Mews, commendable hybridized weizenbock with ‘freshly mown grassy hops’ brings exotic citrus souring to creamy crystal malting. Tart lemon-seeded orange rind bittering reaches buttery vanilla-sweetened banana-clove midst. Floral highlights decorate ancillary white-peppered gooseberry, blueberry, green grape and white pear illusions as well as tropical pineapple, mango, passion fruit, cantaloupe, melon and nectarine effervescence. Uniquely complex and daintily peculiar moderate body will appease white wine dabblers.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE FAMILY MEAL
Balmy golden-straw kolsch serenades citric hop spicing with creamy honeyed malting and salty herbal surge for well rounded moderation. Basil, thyme and ginger influence floral hibiscus-lotus-dandelion triage and wavering apple-brandied mango-pineapple-nectar-gooseberry fruiting. Serve as an alternative to herbal wine at family dinner.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SAISON
Headily herbaceous chartreuse-hazed barnyard ale retains weedy citric pungency as black tea-like bittering ascends above lemon-rotted orange compote and soured grape esters. White-peppered sage-thyme seasoning and musty cellar-like Belgian yeast funk addle dry horse blanket parch.
KANE OVERHEAD DOUBLE I.P.A.
Awesome well-balanced India Pale Ale with bright aromatic citric freshness gaining creamy crystal malting over wood lacquered floral hop bite and light ethanol burn. Resinous pine-needled bittering sinks into glistening pink grapefruit, pineapple, apricot and orange tropicalia as well as neutral celery-stalked furrow. Gets the nod over Kane’s superfine Heads High IPA.
BLUE POINT NO APOLOGIES IMPERIAL I.P.A.
Prominent full-bodied India Pale Ale blends bitter with the sweet quite effectively. Sweet candi-sugared caramel malt rush penetrates bountiful tropical fruit punch as brisk orange rind bittering drifts into pink grapefruit, red apple, nectarine, pineapple, melon, mango, cherry and peach tang, burying harsh alcohol burn. Maple-sapped spruce tones lacquer hop-oiled pine resin and musty floral snip.
THE BRUERY WHITE OAK
Complex bourbon-barreled wheat wine delivers an interesting twist on an oak aged elixir. Lustrous bourbon theme soothes into caramelized butterscotch sweetness, where lovely Almondine-wined praline, pecan and macadamia nuttiness contrasts heady rum-spiced alcohol solvency. Oaken French coffee creaming, pina colada-like coconut milking and frozen banana daiquiri nip join the busy fray, outlasting fleeting brown-sugared cinnamon-gingerbread spicing. Chardonnay, cognac and brandy illusions deepen liquor-stained backend.
EPIC SOUR APPLE SAISON
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, dry yellow-hazed farmhouse ale brings tart green apple souring to lemony grapefruit bittering, vinous green grape pucker and wafting cinnamon toasting. Prickly peppered hop spicing works its way into gentle oats-flaked earthiness and musty horseblanket musk as herbal tea respite increases. Miniscule ginger, cardamom, grains of paradise, nutmeg, clove and anise reminders tingle serene quince theme. Lovers of Granny Smith apples should come aboard.
SUNNER KOLSCH
Modest pale-toned white-headed springtime dry body retains pungent grain malted musk of countless Dutch beers. Lemony orange-candied green apple tartness fades to faintest banana-clove snip above salty-bottomed French breading. Minor metallic solvency underscores grassy-hopped citric souring.
COTTRELL PERRY’S REVENGE ALE
Harsh Scotch ale (with 8.5% alcohol) needs better distinction. Shrill hop-coarsened cherry-grape conflux seeps into honeyed Scotch malting, caramelized brown sugaring and chocolate-covered raisin smidgen as well as wavered whiskey whir. Sugared fig, purple grape, red cherry and black cherry tones receive syrupy maple molasses lick and minor coffee-stained snip, but gnarly alcohol burn scoffs compromised fruited plain.