Sumptuous soda-flowing tan-headed lager with cascading bubbles rising from bottom to top of mahogany body. Chocolate raisin fortitude given red ale-like spiced hop bittering to nutty cocoa finish, retaining up-front malt thrust along the way.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
ATWATER PILSNER
Average Bavarian-styled pilsner enjoys early peppery prickle, but phenol hop grip and dippy citric slip fade to sour wheat limbo by soapy finish.
AVENTINUS WHEAT DOPPELBOCK
Luminous auburn-clouded bock registers up-front burgundy wanderlust furthered by musty Muscat grape pungency, leathered banana-clove perk, cotton-candied bubblegum sweetness, rich plum-prune tartness, mild grape skin tannins and dewy cellar fungi. Perfumed hop insistence delicately nudges honey nut-roasted pale-crystal malting and sweet toffee-butterscotch-vanilla subsidy, culminating in creamy barleywine resonance. Not as heavily alcoholic as stronger doppelbocks, yet rich, assertive, stimulating. Aged four years and quaffed on tap at Ambulance, busy 2013 version gained mellow caramelized malt syruping and pronounced red cherry, cantaloupe, banana daiquiri and honeydew sweetness.
AVERY REDPOINT ALE
Toasted barley-oat nose unusual for cherry-hued red ale, as is maple-sapped pine-nut theme lingering thickly on red apple-bordered fruited plane. Though tamped-down hops enhance orange peel bitterness, impenetrable caramelized quince finish upsets initial promise.
AYINGER OKTOBERFEST MARZEN BIERSPEZIAL
Deep golden hue, thick toffee waft, and rich grain concentration hit the senses initially. Creamy caramel malts and sweet doughy yeast underscore clean nut-abetted finish preserving taut off-dry lager even average Bud drinkers would enjoy.
(BALADIN) WAYAN SAISON STYLE ALE
Easygoing tingly-hopped amber-glowed light body brings tangy orange zip to pineapple-candied tartness. Subtly perfumed cardamom-coriander dip perfectly apropos.
BALTIKA EXPORT LAGER (#7)
Uneventful lower-rung pale-toned Eastern Euro tedium with skunked malt musk, mossy barley-oats-corn easement, and dry popcorn hop fizz flops, befouling grassy hay backdrop of rudimentary dortmunder styling.
(BAR HARBOR) BROTHER ADAM’S BRAGGET HONEY ALE
Prestigious 12% alcohol wildflower-honeyed barleywine-styled ale lifts large floral bouquet above creamy butterscotch mantle, perfectly balancing sugary malt sweetness against less audacious peppery hop sheath whilst floating into cake-like pastry insistence. Tender port-sherry notes bring dessert wine warmth to vanilla wafer/ Graham cracker spell as wintry herbal mint effervescence whisks cheeks.
BARREL HOUSE CUMBERLAND PALE ALE
Bitterly spiced Cascade hop easement leads to toasted honeyed oats sweetness flowing alongside juicy apricot-tangerine-grapefruit tang. Dry citric-grained finish enticed by woodsy pine comb tinge.
(BAVIK) PETRUS TRIPLE ALE
Musty grape-grained odor precludes subdued green apple tartness, corky brut champagne dryness and tangy orange-bruised cherry-grape splat of brettanomyces-soured golden-clouded ale. Subtle butterscotch malting softens lame wheat spine by astringent yeast-endowed white-wined finish. Vinous Sauvignon Blanc illusions wisp by unripe peach-pear undertones. But this is arguably the least defined Belgium-brewed triple attempted yet.
BECK’S DARK PILSNER
Fluffy mousse head and aromatic cocoa powdering introduce mildly creamy pilsner. Barley-roasted hop pungency reaches pleasant back-throated nutty mocha blitz. Elegant black licorice-tingled caramelized malt finish rather soft-toned for bitter dark beer.
BELLE-VUE KRIEK
More palatable than Belle-Vue Gueuze Lambic as its obligatory tart cherry essence gets softly spice-hopped for suitable citric-soured tang. Berry overtones enhance summer ale flow.