On tap at Poor Henry’s, rich honey porter soaked in Brinley Gold Shipwreck rum barrels succeeds at re-creating brown-sugared Bananas Foster dessert embittered and emboldened by blackened hop char. Black chocolate roast overrides rummy Kahlua warmth, vanilla-spiced molasses syruping, pungent coffee bittering, toasted pumpernickel retreat, black licorice waft and wildflower-honeyed floral bouquet at bustling finish.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, rich pecan-pied 2015 porter brings cold-brewed coffee smoothness to nutty brown-sugared caramel malting. Roasted pecan adjunct fades as black chocolate, black cherry, vanilla, molasses and cacao nibs undertones ascend alongside oats-charred walnut and honey-sweetened hazelnut illusions.
Standard dry porter offers clean-watered black malt crisping to lightly wood-smoked chicory coffee bittering and nutty soy remnant. Dark chocolate, molasses and cocoa undertones need deeper resonance to rise above.
Satisfying mocha-dominant brown ale in a can brings cold-pressed Guatemalan coffee roast to oily hop resin, oats-dried pale malting and mild earthen nuttiness. Reminiscent of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, perhaps, its creamy cappuccino snip and dark chocolate smidge sufficiently reinforce the day-old bitter java finish.
Decisive medium-bodied dark lager brings sweet tobacco-roasted carafa malting to smoky Blackstrap molasses bittering, dry hop-charred singe and cocoa-dried coffee slumber. Cola, hazelnut and walnut illusions swim alongside rice-browned mocha-like splendor in the midst.
Spry full-bodied ‘pure brewed’ lager with initial lemon spritz giving way to flowery-hopped peach seduction. Crisp barley-toasted malting elevates soft biscuit spine. Well balanced from firm-headed golden hue to taut nut finish. Stolid bitter pungency isn’t far removed from German beers such as Beck’s or Dinkelacker (or Holland’s Grolsch, for that matter).
Whether using updated recipe or just tweaking mocha ingredients, Zywiec’s newer labeled ‘1881’ version of dry Porter offers tarry black patent malt bittering to sugar-milked coffee sedation, cedar-charred pumpernickel breading, black licorice respite, wispy whiskey nip and soy-sauced raw molasses, picking up mild burnt caramel sweetness by the finish.
Nifty Polish bock loads raisin-pureed fig, brown-sugared pecan and crystal-malted brown chocolate sweetness atop coarse hop acridity. Murky caramel, molasses and cocoa undertones fade beneath.
On tap at Cloverleaf, indefinite moderation lacks stylistically sufficient banana-clove tartness and peaty pale wheat spine. Mild grape, apple, apricot and fig illusions never break the surface.
Milky yeast sinew thickens amber copper pour of Belgian white ale/ Americanized IPA hybrid (brewed by mosquito-riddled Minnesotan for Northwest consumption). Sweet Valencia orange tang picks up mild Mosaic hop-oiled lemon twist over dry earthen farmhouse rusticity. Light pine wisp and tart pineapple-grapefruit ripple juice up ripe citric profile.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, welcome novelty (crafted in conjunction with home brewer Juli Goldenberg and Monkey Paw Brewing) loads beet-juiced carrot cake entry with vanilla icing for adventurous 8.5% ABV Belgian-styled pale ale. Sweet honeyed malts contrast lively Saaz hop sharpness as brisk-watered vodka plasticity provides light alcohol burn to adjunctive dried cinnamon grounding and golden raisin snip. Sweet carrot caking picks up lemon meringue, banana, peach, cantaloupe, honeydew and pear nuances by the lightly creamed fruit-spiced finish.
On tap at Cloverleaf, interestingly designed cherry-soured tripel leaves sticky tart fruiting on tongue. Subtly bittersweet oaken cherry pucker crowds the midst as candi-sugared Belgian yeast leaves behind zippy banana-clove sweetness, tangy orange-tangerine-clementine splurge and mild white-peppered herbage.
