Mild amber lager in a can stays crisp and clean as brisk honey-spiced lemon spritz, delicate mineral graining and herbal hop nip recede at light bread-crusted spine.
THE UNKNOWN PRE-GAME SESSIONABLE PALE ALE
Sessionable canned moderation lacks fortitude as light honey-spiced lemon twist evaporates above bready wheat spine. Crisp and clean, yet ultimately forgettable.
FOOTHILLS TORCH PILSNER
Pungent Czech-styled pils brings raw-grained barnyard rusticity and sharp Saaz-hopped bittering to the fore as musky lemon rot souring increases over buttered biscuit malt base. Tertiary lemongrass herbage and minor straw grass acridity waver. Clean mineral water crisping battles back astringent ethyl alcohol burn. A must-have for heartier pilsner thirsts.
DIESEL PUNK PORTER
Dissipating molasses-sapped burnt caramel sweetness knocked back by less effective soy-sauced stale coffee sourness. Reminiscent of an oilier-hopped Baltic porter (with mild mocha-smoked black malting), though murkier flavor-wise. Too bad its constricted chocolate-milked Yoo-Hoo sugaring stays far below the dreaded mocha souring.
DIESEL PUNK INDIA PALE ALE
Slick contract-brewed (by Genesee) moderate-medium body scatters caramelized-spiced lemon, grapefruit, mango and peach tang above lingering acidic bittering that brings harsh solvency to desolate citric finish.
KENT FARMS BREWING COMPANY
KENT, CONNECTICUT
Connecticut’s first farmhouse brewery is a doozy. Inside a 2,400 square foot barnhouse on 48 rural countryside acres, KENT FALLS BREWING COMPANY relies on its own locally grown ingredients to craft small batches of intriguing sour ales, saisons, goses and India Pale Ales. Open for business during autumn, 2014, this organic well-watered brewery has already began bottling for local distribution and each beer brings something “unique to each season.”
Using a solar hot water system for sustainability and feeding spent grain to local livestock, Kent Falls’ mission is to responsibly serve the local community by crafting uniquely blended or hybridized beers from freshly harvested grains and hops.
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon in September ’15, I quaffed nine selections at Nanuet’s Ambulance Brew House. (In fact, Ambulance took several good customers on a trip to Kent Falls thereafter.) The reviews are listed separately in the Beer Index.
KENT FALLS ZEP ON THE JUKEBOX IPA
On tap at Ambulance, adventurously hybridized India Pale Ale (given heavy metal-related moniker) provides salt-licked yellow fruited pungency to its hard wood surface. Clean well-watered minerality and briskly carbolic hop prickle sharpen bruised lemon souring as well as tidy Golden Delicious apple scruff. Lightly spiced tart citrus finish picks up clean-watered celery nip.
KENT FALLS WAYMAKER BRETT IPA (100% BRETT)
On tap at Ambulance, mild brettanomyces bacteria given juicy-hopped tropical fruiting and subtle raw-honeyed lemongrass herbage. Sedate lemony orange tang picks up tertiary mango, guava, papaya, grapefruit and lychee illusions over leathery barnyard acridity. Another delightful soft-toned moderation by organic farmhouse brewer.
KENT FALLS ALTERNATE WORLD DRY-HOPPED GOSE
On tap at Ambulance, “modest” dry-hopped gose plies ultra-sour lemony peach-orange-gooseberry tartness and acidic lip-smacking white grape vinegaring to mineral-grained brininess. A true ‘marriage of sour and hoppy’ thru organic ingredients.
KENT FALLS SHOWER BEER – GOSE
On tap at Ambulance, zesty lime-juiced pucker and lemony tartness deepen stylish salted coriander souring of light-bodied gose. A hint of fennel sweetness contrasts sharp citric-soured finish.
KENT FALLS FIELD BEER – SPELT
On tap at Ambulance, lightly dispersed hulled spelt adds mineral-grained rusticity to horse-blanketed barnyard leathering and strawed hay acridity as oily-hopped citric spoilage subtly advances. Eye-squinting lemon juicing and desiccated orange souring spread above mild sourdough yeast.
KENT FALLS FIELD BEER – WHEAT
On tap at Ambulance, easygoing soured saison offers orange-dried lemon rot and yellow grape acidity to acrid barnyard-derived white wheat spine. Delicately detailed light body will please sessionable drinkers with a penchant for sour candy.
