Pleasurable honey-spiced Belgian pale ale picks up scurried citric tang over sugared wheat malting. Lemony pineapple, orange and peach juicing plus subtle white grape esters gain mild black peppering. While initial canned version lacked stylistic brevity and relied too much on glutenous raw-honeyed astringency to reinforce expectant citric rush, lemon-rotted herbal nip, light peach compote snip, delicate yellow grapefruit clip and soft-spiced hop fizz, improved 2015 bottled selection sweetens the mix exponentially.
TIN CANNON VIRGINIA BLONDE
Appealing ‘entry level’ moderation brings easygoing honeyed citrus sweetness to light caramel-spiced malting. Candied lemony orange tartness infiltrates neutral back end.
SPENCER DEVON FALL LINE PALE ALE
Sassy strawberry-jammed version of brewers’ hop-crazy West Coast-styled pale ale maintains crisp clean-watered briskness. Dank pine bittering softly seeps into tropical-fruited midst (provided by unheralded Azacca and Ella hops). Tangy mango, peach, tangerine and navel orange illusions add color.
SUNKEN CITY SUNKTOBERFEST
Bettering the majority of American-made marzen lagers, middling medium-bodied fall seasonal offers muddled molasses-buttered toffee sweetness to dry leafy hop bittering, mild tea-like dewiness, light sugar spicing and brown-breaded bottom. Nothing distinctive, but quite refreshing.
BEER HOUND OLD YELLA AMERICAN PALE WHEAT
Distinct American-styled moderation brings sharp citric hop spicing to crystal-malted baked bread spine in a crisp, clean manner. Tangy grapefruit, orange, pineapple and tangerine fruiting softly lingers while prickly lemon-limed seltzer fizz tickles the tongue.
LOOSE SHOE WYLD RYDE
Pleasing rye-toasted pale malting picks up residual sugaring over moderate Citra-Chinnok hop dryness. Light wood tones fade alongside nutty caramel tinge.
HI-WIRE BED OF NAILS BROWN ALE
Fine Asheville, North Carolina-based microbrewery initially allowed Mississippi’s Lazy Magnolia to brew and bottle its traditional ‘delicate bodied’ English Brown Ale. Mildly creamed toffee-caramel sweetness and wispy brown chocolate snip stay muted as surging walnut, cola nut, hazelnut, chestnut and butternut illusions gain prominence. Asheville’s Three Ring Brewery then took over bottling in 2016, bringing cocoa-dried cola nuttiness to chocolate hazelnut-breaded molasses sweetness and caramel-burnt coffee tones over earthen soiling.
STRANGEWAYS GOURD OF THUNDER IMPERIAL PUMPKIN PORTER
Deliriously dynamic medium-bodied autumnal dessert drapes brown-sugared pumpkin spice with bourbon-soaked vanilla beans and sweet milk chocolate. Pumpkin-pied cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg seasoning as well as dark-roasted mocha malting (and delicate perfumed hop whiff) contrast recessive pumpkin-roasted butternut squash, gourd and zucchini snips. Arguably the best beer at Virginia Craft Beer Festival 2015.
OLD OX BLACK OX RYE PORTER
Robust full body loads massive mocha malting atop charcoal nuttiness and charred hop bittering. Bittersweet rye-toasted black chocolate frontage, light-roasted coffee surge and dried cocoa cadence gain mildly wood-smoked walnut, cola and Brazil nut influence.
STRANGEWAYS BOOM! CHOC-O-LOTTA CHOCOLATE LAGER
‘Luscious’ chocolate-roasted märzen lager aged over ‘gobs of cocoa nibs and vanilla beans’ imparts milk chocolate sweetness above Octoberfest-related dark roasted barley malting and leafy Noble hop astringency. Splendid dried cocoa finish may benefit from richer vanilla influence.
OLD BUST HEAD NITRO OATMEAL STOUT
Mildly creamed nitro-injected oatmeal stout offers silken coffee-roasted milk chocolate soothe to oats-honeyed Cafe Vanilla Porter appeasement and mellowly caramelized Chestnut Porter nuttiness. Subsidiary vanilla, chestnut, espresso, caffè latte and macchiato illusions fade quickly.
TERRAPIN PUMPKINFEST – 2015
Aggressive lager-aged autumnal offering (in a can) lacquers pumpkin pie spicing with lightly perfumed hops and tart white grape esters. Sugary pumpkin frontage sweetened by cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander seasoning. Serene caramel malting tingles soft honeyed wheat spine.