Soft barley undercurrent runs through well-hopped white-headed pale lager. Ample carbonation brings out creamy mocha malt luster, but lack of thick grain assertion hurts its ‘double hopped’ classification.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
MOLSON GOLDEN LAGER
Distant pungent malt liquor scent nearly clashes with initial dry hop fizz and sweet barley thrust of soft-headed amber. Sugary sweetness borders on cloy and sour yeast backdrop can’t save premature finish. Better in the ’70s.
MORDUE WORKIE TICKET ALE
Smoked barley and burnt caramel provide aromatic comeliness perfectly suited for soft-hopped English Pale Ale. Sour yeast counters molasses cookie sweetness and ‘mischievous’ roasted malt subtlety smacking up against musky tart-fruited finish.
MOYLAN’S KILT LIFTER SCOTCH ALE
Nice n’ smooth tawny-hued rust-headed moderate body manages to retain full-flavored assertion. Scotch whiskey essence gains tangy bruised orange regalia over its welcoming candy apple path leading into a sturdy tangerine spleen. Barren nuttiness affects off-dry hops. Bitter cocoa malts carve earthen peat trail, accruing a smidgen of dried fruit esters.
NAKED ASPEN PALE ALE
Fine full-fruited golden-reddish medium body combines fresh mineral water with sweet citrus and berries. Backup support provided by punctual grains. Brewery defunct: 2005.
NEUZELLER KLOSTER-BRAU BATHBEER
Deep brown-hued, medium-bodied German dark lager with cocoa-smoked coffee-burnt entry and thick tobacco imprint settles for extremely parched plum tranquility. Soft ashen malt finish fits moderate template, knocking back tertiary powdered chocolate dryness effectively.
NEW BELGIUM MOTHERSHIP WIT
Lilting light-bodied straw-hazed Belgian-styled witbier retains delicate sweet-sour banana-coriander frontage, resilient orange peel bittering and fluttered sourdough backdrop. Softly peppered floral hops spice up Granny Smith apple, lemon meringue and curacao orange fruiting plus scurried chamomile, heather and lavender illusions.
NEW GLARUS RASPBERRY TART
Truly utopian Framboise-styled fruit ale with deep purple hue, bright magenta head and juicy aperitif design accrues rapturous ripe raspberry resonance. Musty rhubarb-pied red cherry souring, vinous dry-hopped yellow grape tannins, tart berry-cherry pucker and effervescent lemon-limed prickle pick up oak-vat acridity below syrupy raspberry-pureed slurp for uncanny sorbet likeness. 2014 re-tasting: voluminous candied raspberry tartness and soda pop fizzle accrued the same sweet-tart buoyancy.
NEW HOLLAND THE POET STOUT
Robust mahogany-hued lactose stout integrates abundant bittersweet chocolate-milked creaminess with nutty hop-seared espresso-coffee richness. Chewy fudge center procures molasses-thick cookie dough bulwark protecting honey-roasted oats, assuaged dried fruits and zippy cola-hazelnut snip against acrid tobacco-chawed charcoal-tar bittering. Even a hint of anisette sneaks into the mix.
NICK STAFFORD TOLERATION
Here’s a first. A fruited full-bodied (no less) gluten-free English pale ale. Clear coppery liquid with tiny-bubbled soda-like carbonation lets astringent Cascade-hopped bittering sabotage initial artificial peach-cherry droll, impending green apple-browned pear lull, and cloy sorghum malt sugaring. Though corn syrupy stickiness and slight metallic snare constrain citric slide, this beats Anheuser-Busch’s similarly-styled Redbridge by a faux-barley-wheat strand.
NORTH COAST OLD STOCK ALE (2001)
Limited 2001 release not for faint-hearted as harsh 11.4% alcohol-smitten barleywine surge and opulent prune palate restricted to experienced drinkers. Blaring chocolate-caramel aromatics and sweet syrupy caramel swagger sway creme brulee illusion.
NUTFIELD OLD MAN ALE
Pleasantly carbolic boozy-scented medium body maintains chewy caramel malting. Sweet honeyed modesty and delicate English India Pale Ale characteristics (dry hops, smoked barley) provide depth. Brewery defunct: 2009.