Likable ’07 limited edition gold-hazed amber uses pomegranate juice as catalyst to bring out slyly bittersweet lemony blueberry-boysenberry-juniper tartness above wheat-cracked honeyed oats spine. Ripe peach-apricot-cherry tang and juicy orange-tangerine pliability add auxiliary luster. Arguably as fine as Shmaltz’s He’brew Pomegranate Ale tasted one week before.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
SAXER PILSNER
A bold change of pace. Classic well-hopped bohemian-styled golden lager (listed as a pilsner) gathers rich dark chocolate malting reminiscent of a porter. Funky, but not displaced, grassy-hopped fruit-soured bitterness gains luster when given time to breathe. Brewery defunct: 2005.
SCHNEIDER WIESEN EDEL-WEISSE
Delectable white-headed yellow-cleared moderation (a.k.a. Tap 4 Mein Grunes circa ’13) douses heavenly butterscotch creaminess inside dried banana tartness to bubble-gummy center. Floral-dusted clove-coriander-cardamom prickle nudges black peppered hop bittering, burnt wood chip salience and doughy mildew sinew. Moldy lemon-orange-peach tang precedes arid wheat wine finish. Compares favorably to Franziskaner brews.
SEA DOG BISCUIT MALT AMBER ALE
Wafting spice hops softly embitter creamy caramel malting and buttery biscuit linger, invading the senses for middle of the road medium-bodied amber. Decent barleymalt finish rounds things out, but lack of body keeps this from getting two paws up.
SHENANDOAH BIG MEADOWS PALE ALE
Overriding barley-roasted cracked wheat frontage streamlines muted citric hop souring before blanched sugar maple finish aids benign wet grass, hay and horsehide leathering. But coppery pale body fades badly down the malt-dulled earth-toned stretch. Brewery defunct: 2010.
(SHIPYARD) BATTLEGROUND ALE
Off-dry golden-hazed wheat ale retains pallid honeyed wheat base too frail to lift slack herbal spicing, soiled vegetal nature, and butterscotch candied nicety.
SHIPYARD WINTER ALE SPECIAL BREW
Bitterly dry-bodied, ruby-glowed, amber-hued seasonal binds holiday-spiced nutmeg-cinnamon-clove serenade, ripe raspberry-strawberry tartness, sharp herbaceous hop resonance, and glancing wood tone to buttery caramel malting. When astringent metallic missive flags, sullen cherry, fig, pear, and red apple nuances sweeten biscuit-y wheat finish, leaving ashy orange rind wake.
SIERRA NEVADA BIGFOOT BARLEYWINE STYLE ALE (25TH EXPEDITION)
Magnificent 2008 version of extremely popular ruddy-hued barleywine brings up-front brandy warmth to syrupy whiskey malting and chewy pine-sapped goo. Huge hop bittering imbibes overripe peach-cherry-grape jam prevalence and alcohol-strengthened sherry-bourbon whir.
(SILENRIEUX) JOSEPH SPELT ALE
Sturdy white-headed amber witbier hems mildly hop-embittered banana-clove couplet next to earthen nut-grain compaction. Orange rind dryness and lemony tartness coat tongue after few sips. Carbolic hop fizz depletes candied sugar slip and desolate baked bread spread.
SIXPOINT RIGHTEOUS RYE ALE
Congenial coppery medium body secures weighty rye influence atop dry caramelized chocolate malts and peppery juniper hop bittering. Backdrop merges raw cocoa with scanty cinnamon-clove spicing.
SLEEMAN FINE PORTER
Thin, clear-bottled, 2004 limited edition ruby-brown porter leads with subtle caramelized malting deepening dry hop roasted flog. Sedate cocoa-chocolate chalking and remiss plum-walnut keepsake dull out by impish espresso finish.
SLY FOX GANG AFT AGLEY WEE HEAVY ALE
Creamy chestnut-hued medium-bodied Scottish wee heavy brings whiskey-smoked caramel malts to sharp cola-hazelnut-walnut roasting and seductive black cherry-prune scamper. Toasted grains flatten out dried fruiting as sarsaparilla-like maple-birch sugaring rises.