Bittersweet maple-induced coffee-flavored winner. A bit light, fizzy, and unassuming despite blackened hue, but pleasant caramel-chocolate creaminess and cocoa backdrop firm up gently efficient finish.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
WITKAP-PATER ABBEY-SINGEL ALE
Yet another brew that rips us off for .8 ounces (11.2 oz. instead of 12). Smooth, somewhat fruity Belgium ale goes down like clove-spiced champagne. Musty apple-pear misting and phenolic lemony grapefruit dissonance reach ransacked doughy bottom. A tad too sudsy to fully satisfy the beast within, lacking body and character (especially when compared to finer Belgian ales).
WOODSTOCK PILSNER
Admirable medium-bodied pilsner with viscous yeast sediment given instant bright apricot juiciness topped by single malt Scotch persistence tethering rye-dried caramelized wheat base. Brewery defunct: 2001.
(WYCHWOOD) HOBGOBLIN TRADITIONAL ENGLISH ALE
Roasted mocha malts dominate earthen grains of uncomplicated rust-hazed English Ale. Candied burgundy sweetness lingers below light chocolate-y surface as mineral water crispness stays in accord with great Brit tradition.
YARDS PHILADELPHIA PALE ALE
Easygoing amber-toned, medium-bodied, English-styled ale from the city of Brotherly Love. Yeast-backed sour bread opening serenades burnt hop bitterness, chaffed wheat restraint, and buttery resolve, settling to pleasant roasted barley midst with a smidgen of acidity and no significant follow-up.
YOUNG’S OATMEAL STOUT
Fluffy bronze-headed stout pours like tar, retaining odorous smoky mocha must. Dark chocolate-malted espresso resonance perfectly counters moderate oatmeal intonation. Though frothy, creamy, and dry, sparkling water texture goes against traditional style. Yet given its enduring milkshake finish, this traditional Brit is quite grandiose.
ZAGORKA LAGER
Lighter, simpler and less musky than most similarly styled Czech brews, lean Bulgarian lager relies on gentle barley, maize, and rice backbone to constrain sugary cereal graining contrasting mildly acidic herbal hop bitterness. Diacetyl finish veils gummy malt cloying.
AASS DARK LAGER
Off-dry amber-coppered German-styled dunkel lager retains easygoing dry Scotch appeal. Roasted nut-grain subtlety and candied malt creaminess pick up tobacco-cocoa reticence before orange-grapefruit ripeness conveys appealing sourness.
ABITA CHRISTMAS ALE (2007)
Though lacking spicy seasonal expectancy, honeyed vanilla malts invite marzipan, pecan, and biscuit-y wheat illusions to come and go. Phenol dry-hopped astringency undermines stone fruit nicety, but macadamia-almond nuttiness makes up ground.
ACME CALIFORNIA PALE ALE
As plain as its name indicates, frugal ale rivals bland, unsophisticated lagers. Grains and hops come to the fore, but lack of distinguishing adjuncts or malt-like assertiveness keeps this stillborn.
AKTIEN JUBILAUMS PILS
Soapy light-bodied yellow-hazed pilsner upset by off-putting cabbage-asparagus waft, acrid bruised lemon souring, and bitterly oxidized wheat straw finish. Mild chamomile tea, lemongrass, and vegetal illusions shade grassy hops.
ALEXANDER KEITH’S INDIA PALE ALE
Pale golden moderate body matches tart yellow-fruited dryness and demure apricot tang to fizzy lemon-lime sashay, but soapy malts deflect thin wheat proclivity at neutralized butternut finish. Lighter than traditional IPA’s that’d complete England to India journey during Colonial era.