Frothily foamed creaminess of diluted milk porter gets spongy as lactic soft-tongued toffee fudging and mildly embittered dry chocolate nearly snuffed out by musty peat soiling. Impermanent black chocolate, cocoa, cola, fig mold and anise swipes need more resonance.
Ambitious Belgian strong ale aged on French oak (and referenced as a biere de garde) brings wintry spices to the fore as candi-sugared nutmeg, clove, cardamom, star anise and ginger seasoning embellishes ripened dried fruiting as well as glazed pecan notions. Sarsaparilla and Jagermeister illusions sneak thru latent alcohol burn. A welcome winter warmer.
Busy as its eight-word namesake, lightly barrel-aged medium body embraces Mai Tai cocktail spirit with a salt-licked Margarita kick. Lime-peeled orange tartness sinks into tangy ‘pineapple and cherry pureed’ seduction above creamily caramelized malt toasting. Latent red grape sweetness and delicate sherry, Courvoisier and mull-spiced wine illusions increase complexity.
Tart strawberry rhubarb pie likeness picks up abrupt sour lemon effervescence and mild oaken cherry acidity over dry barnyard acridity. Tertiary raspberry, peach, mango and guava nuances enlighten sour strawberry scrum.
On tap at Ambulance, funky 100% brettanomyces-fermented red ale aged in red wine barrels once containing Tennessee Whiskey retains tart raspberry overtures and vinous red grape tannins. Puckering raspberry influence enlivens acetic ‘wild ale’ as lemony bitterness increases – eclipsing any trace of whiskey wooded sweetness.
Excellent joint venture circa 2018 with nomadic brewer, Brian Strumke, of Baltimore’s Stillwater. Salt-licked lactobacillus acidity soaks tropical fruited ‘Swedish sour ale’. Tartly lemon-juiced peach, mango, passionfruit and yellow grapefruit adjuncts pick up lightly vinous cherry musk, musty green grape esters and floral-daubed strawberry rhubarb licks at hard-candied center.
On tap at Ambulance, extremely tart magenta-ambered moderation brings subtle cherry souring to the surface. Tertiary rosé, raspberry and cranberry illusions reinforce cherry rhubarb pie finish.
On tap at Ambulance, unassuming 8.5% ABV allows lemony grapefruit bittering and candied orange tartness to spread across mildly pungent grassy-hopped pine resin without disturbance. At the finish, lightly spiced citrus zest lingers above biscuity cara-pils malting.
On tap at Ambulance, well-integrated India Pale Ale hybrid brings tart raspberry rasp to lime-soured lemon peel bittering. In the backdrop, floral green tea reminders and distant cherry-orange-tangerine illusions drift behind dried raspberry permanence.
