Creamy black chocolate syruping and chewy caramel malting get a tad watery contrasting red hot chili saucing and daintily smoked paprika snip of gimmicky medium body. Milk chocolate-y vanilla sweetness, chalky cocoa dryness and earth-scorched nutty coffee reminder lose intensity alongside dissipating chili heat, leaving tongue exhausted after a few sips.
Crystalline weizenbock delicately combines easygoing sugar-spiced molasses fruiting and lightly creamed marzipan-candied caramel malting. Sweet banana, cherry, ruby red grapefruit, navel orange, candied apple, sugarplum and fig illusions emerge alongside wispy chestnut-pecan-almond whim.
On tap at Craft House, fascinating barrel-aged rye ale with botanicals and bitters reminiscent of a sugar-spiced gingerbread cookie on first sip. Dry WhistlePig rye whiskey malting deepens ‘classic cocktail,’ as light orange and lemon-peeled gentian root bittering contrasts mild cherry-juiced cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and clove adjuncts as well as wispy Belgian candi-sugared bourbon vanilla syruping. High end 19th century-derived 10% ABV liqueur perfect for the holidays.
Well balanced medium-bodied India Pale Ale brings sunny yellow grapefruit brightness, sharp lemony orange rind bittering and tropical peach-pineapple-mango sweetness to the fore above mildly creamed sugar-spiced honey malt sweetness. Moderate pine needling, wispy herbal tinge and grassy hop astringency reinforce juniper-licked floral backdrop while phenol aspirin astringency lingers thru citric-juiced aftertaste.
On tap at Growler & Gill (and taking its moniker from Robert Plant’s impromptu exclamation at MSG “Stairway To Heaven” performance), dapper juicy-fruited IPA loads yellow grapefruit bittering atop oily hop resin and sweet sugar spice contrast. Engagingly floral-daubed pineapple, peach, papaya and orange tropicalia settles way below tangy grapefruit assault.
On tap at Growler & Gill (and taking its moniker from the opening line of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”), soft-toned IPA brings dynamic sugar-spiced citrus affluence to tamped-down grassy hop bittering and light pine resin. Lemony grapefruit, pineapple, orange, tangerine, peach and citron tang resonates, but not too brightly. Consistently winning flavor profile stays even keel.
On tap at Craft House, floral-perfumed citrus juicing arrives above musky pine resin. Zesty lemon-peeled orange and grapefruit effervescence gains moderate grassy hop bitterness to contrast peach, mango, pineapple and papaya sweetness. Heavenly bliss.
Prevalent yellow grapefruit tang settles down and picks up bitter dry-hopped lemon seed aspect and green tea snicker above white bread bottom. Sharp citrus affluence increased in the midst by caramelized pilsner malting as tertiary pineapple, mango, tangerine and mango surface alongside zesty grapefruit juicing.
On tap at Growler & Gill, soft-toned California collaboration places slightly sharp citrus tang atop dry wood tone, retaining bubbly carbolic spritz. Yellow grapefruit, navel orange, peach and tangerine tones brighten sunny day IPA.
Not half as ‘burly’ as advertised nor as welcoming as Colorado version, perfectly centrist medium-bodied India Pale Ale (bottled in newer Asheville facility) provides bright lemony orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, peach and mango tang to floral-daubed grassy hop bittering and resinous pine spike in polite manner. Brisk clean-watered crisping invigorates tropical fruiting. Watch for rubbery sulfuric off-taste and aspirin-like alkalinity when warmed.
Salty seaweed adjunct nips sharp piney hop bittering and ultra-dry grapefruit peel pucker. Mild orange rind, pineapple and mango undertones relinquished by oaken bark-dried astringency.
Sticky honeyed apricot sweetness gets cloy above white-sugared caramel malting and phenol aspartame plasticity. White-peppered apricot, peach, fig and tangerine tang denigrated by clay-like platiscine grouting while murkily vodka-like 12% ABV astringency diminishes lacquered apricot finish.
