Toot-sweet Egyptain-styled multi-grained pale ale ‘brewed with honey and chamomile’ finds both advertised adjuncts hitting their mark firmly. Anticipatory honey-dripped affluence slowly picks up tea-like subsidy overrun by pasty marzipan-butterscotch creaminess and warm almondine illusion. Astringent hop coarseness and minor diacetyl buttering cut into mild ginger-snapped cinnamon-nutmeg interlude.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
DEFIANT BELGIAN-STYLE TRIPEL ALE
Well-defined chartreuse-hazed witbier not far removed from Ommegang’s impressive Abbey ales matches herbaceous farmhouse nature to yellow-fruited souring, dark-spiced sweetness, and earthen mineral graining. Sour lemony banana blitz receives candi-sugared apricot glaze and clove-spearmint-green tea tingle reinforced by mild white-peppered hop bittering.
BANKS CARIBBEAN LAGER
Simple pale-bodied session beer that’ll satisfy poorer American blue collar tastes. Sour corn-oiled turn-off picks up dry phenol hop bittering fortifying fragile barley-roasted wheat-cracked spine to minimal soapy finish. Oily diacetyl mouthfeel, putrid Scotch malting, green apple souring, and cooked vegetable tinge beat down satisfactory rice adjunct.
21ST AMENDMENT BREW FREE OR DIE I.P.A.
Famous San Francisco brewpub gets Cold Spring, Minnesota brewery to can its finest offering. Busy piney spruce swagger informs up-front pineapple-nectar sweetness, subsidiary apricot-peach-tangerine tang and tertiary cantaloupe-watermelon juiciness to creamy malt chocolate-y backdrop. Bitter grassy-hopped lemony orange-peeled grapefruit influence penetrates sly currant sway. Reserved hop profile may preclude hard-headed hop-heads, but the loss is truly theirs. Well integrated fruited malting and minor matchstick head nuance not far removed from Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
KELSO PILSNER
Dank-grained medium-bodied Czech pils with lemony hop fizz and floral-spiced Orange Blossom honey drift falls way short. Vacant crystal malt sweetness and inferior vegetal spill (asparagus-maize-carrot) sink it further into stylistic oblivion.
SAMUEL ADAMS LONGSHOT DOUBLE I.P.A.
Worthy amber-hazed full body brings resinous piney-hopped grapefruit-orange rind bittering to sticky caramel malt sweetness swaying huge marzipan-almond imprint. Rum cake, pine nut, dark spice and floral illusions fill out rounded dry-fruited finish. A hop-head lover’s delight.
DOGFISH HEAD SQUALL I.P.A.
Resinous piney grapefruit opening counters resolute mocha malt sweetness, cinnamon-sugared apple-pear confluence, and peachy pineapple-melon tang. Peppery hop-spiced tingle allows floral rose pedal, jasmine, and daisy illusions to blossom alongside almond-pasted clove-allspice nuances.
(VOODOO) PILZILLA LAGER
Closer to a fruitful (less wood-dried) India Pale Ale, unpasteurized Zwickel-styled lager reaches beyond its meekly balanced German, Czech, and Polish pilsner confluence. Tongue-tingled hop-glistened piney citrus frontage picks up herbal hop-oiled bittering to engage lemony grapefruit-peeled sourness and unobtrusive apricot-apple-pear sweetness. Recessive tobacco, hay, and barnyard acridity inform grassy bottom.
BOAKS DOUBLE BW WITBIER
Palest straw-hazed pearly-headed moderate body (bottled by nearby High Point Brewery) is supposed ‘twisted Belgian-styled wheat beer.’ Soft yellow-fruited summer appeal buttressed by musty lemongrass souring overriding earthen grassy-hopped barnyard, horse-blanket, and hay acridity. Raw-honeyed lemon pith midst lightly embitters peppery floral murk succumbed by lackluster white-breaded wheat spine. Brewery defunct: 2016.
SAMUEL SMITH ORGANIC STRAWBERRY ALE
Effective strawberry jam-like fruit ale (brewed by Melbourne Brothers and blended at Sam Smith’s mill) picks up extensive lemony watermelon tartness to candy apple-glazed finish. Sugary strawberry bubblegum mouthfeel reinforces sweet cantaloupe, apricot, and raspberry nuances, becoming slightly cloy as faintest oxidized acidity fades.
SAMUEL SMITH ORGANIC CHERRY ALE
Excellent amber-cleared pink-highlighted fruit ale brewed at Melbourne Brothers (whose fine Apricot, Strawberry, and Cherry ales uniquely counter swanky grain-based British beers), then blended and bottled by Sam Smith. Less filling and alcoholic than ambitious kriek-styled New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red, its cherry pie pertinacity secures subsidiary candied apple, white grape and cranberry tartness. Cherry coughdrop, Jolly Rancher, Dr. Pepper and cherry syrup nuances fade in and out, providing a persuasive sweet ‘n sour lambic-like delectability.
DIEU DU CIEL! EQUINOXE DU PRINTEMPS
Boozy (9.5% alcohol) toffee-hazed Scotch Ale brewed with maple syrup makes fine dessert beer. Smoky maple-glazed brown-sugared butterscotch center appropriates creamy caramel-chocolate malting for alcohol-burnt banana liqueur, burgundy, and brandy whir. Recessive cocoa-buttered raisin-plum illusions linger politely below.