Easygoing Belgian-style golden ale made with garden-grown Thai basil retains peppery hop spicing and marinated citric pleasantries. Mild orange rind bittering, zesty lemon tartness, piquant mandarin orange dalliance and herbal lemongrass fodder provide quaint citron motif. Perfect as a crossover for light ale and fruited pilsner admirers.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
CAPE ANN FISHERMANS TEA PARTY BARLEYWINE
Eccentric Extra Special Bitter-like deviation forgoes stylistic sweet barleywine fruiting for subtly smoked black-green tea bittering and ample fig-dried sugaring. Mild earthen hop toasting and Band-Aid-scented beechwood motif contrast glazed caramel malting of smooth departure. Tertiary tobacco, peat, and resin affinities further catapult unique Boston Tea Party reenactment.
(CHARLES WELLS) WELLS BOMBARDIER ENGLISH PREMIUM BITTER
Widely acclaimed traditional English-styled bitter plies delicate mineral water to lightly creamed caramel malting and gentle Fuggle hop bittering. Smoothly robust considering moderate 4.3% alcohol flow, allowing phenol-spiced marzipan, raisin bread, black cherry, dried fig, and pecan illusions to sway resinous peat backdrop. The nebulous Copper Ale style owes a debt of gratitude to this proudly British Extra Special Bitter. Holds up to scrutiny.
MENDOCINO IMPERIAL STOUT
Abrasively complex tan-headed obsidian-bodied dry stout too assertively bitter to be lumped in with sweeter Imperial style. Harshly pine-charred, hot-tarred, nut-seared Blackstrap molasses theme and dark roasted hop bittering override crowded black cherry puree, raspberry, red grape, dried prune, and blueberry undertones. Dark ale lovers may be put off by its ashy charcoal harshness so move cautiously with trepidation.
HOPPIN’ FROG FROG’S HOLLOW DOUBLE PUMPKIN ALE
Amazingly detailed and perfectly balanced autumnal seasonal shows off an impressive entourage of flavors. Seductively soft-tongued (despite heady 8% alcohol whir), bringing luscious maple-sugared pumpkin-pied spicing to chewy caramelized marzipan center. Apple-glazed, orange-candied, cherry coughdrop opulence coats gingerbread-toasted cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice piquancy and onrushing rum-spiced whiskey kick. Sweet vanilla-banana dalliance adds further splendor.
(RIDGEWAY) REINDEERS REVOLT ENGLISH CHRISTMAS ALE
Muddled rust-corroded winter seasonal lacks resolve. Harsh ethanol-laced diacetyl propensity outweighs musty orange spicing and barren seasonal spicing. Remote fig-dried apple-skinned musk, distant almond-toasted caramel malting, and slight mineral-grained leafiness barely make a wave amidst agonizingly astringent parameters.
OTTER CREEK OKTOBERFEST
Indistinct 2011 autumnal offering (with copper-cleared hue) fatigued by overriding phenol astringency and buttery diacetyl waver. Pumpkin-seeded gourd spicing and musty orange-dried coarsening lost amidst leafy foliage. Toasted honey nut spine and sweet chestnut egress need better resilience.
FLYING FISH HOPFISH I.P.A.
Wondrously zesty tropical-fruited opulence rides above pronounced hop bittering of bright, lively stylistic fave. Illuminating floral-daubed cantaloupe, melon, pineapple, peach, orange, grapefruit and apricot tones glaze sugary crystal malting. A vibrant crossover not strictly for hopheads.
GREAT LAKES OKTOBERFEST
Outstandingly balanced 2011 version of autumnal Vienna-styled amber lager brings bright red-fruited spicing, dewy peat graining, and leafy red-brown-yellow foliage to biscuit-y honeyed wheat spine. Dainty cinnamon-gingerbread nicety augments juicy red grape, red apple, and red cherry fruiting. Its multitudinous flavor profile gets perfectly integrated, showing no seams. An amiable, first rate Oktoberfest crossing all boundaries.
SHINER BLONDE
One small step above typical Shiner mediocrity. Middling citric effervescence pleats corn-sugared crystal malting and sweet bubble-gummy midst of crisp straw-hued lightweight. Faint orange-peach-grapefruit conflux moistens toned-down grassy hop bittering for adequate summery session beer. Minor phenol astringency drags down backend.
NAPA SMITH CRUSH BEER
Stylistically shifty amber lager ‘brewed with grapes’ proves to be rather obtuse as advertised grape influence takes a backseat to brisk fruited malting of ancillary autumnal Octoberfest. Seasonal apple-peach-pumpkin-pied gourd spicing usurps barley-toasted almond pasting and leafy hop resin above metallic phenol whim, creating creamy frothed opening. But musty grape-stemmed earthiness, dinky red-yellow-green grape speck, and thin mineral-grained Scotch lick lose out to sterile Band-Aid astringency, leaving unrealized finish to flounder.
WACHUSETT LARRY IMPERIAL I.P.A.
Superior soft-toned stylistic selection maintains balance, richness and distinction. Creamy caramel buttering rides alongside brisk piney-hopped, orange-peeled, grapefruit rind bittering, allowing tangy peach, apricot, mango, pineapple, tangerine, cherry, nectarine and melon illumination to sweeten the busy midst. Juicy tropical fruiting picks up delicate floral-spiced nicety along the way. Serve to West Coast IPA lovers.
