Unsure if stylistic integrity is betrayed or if correct balance is achieved with sour ale-leaning German dunkel (in canned version). Certain odd complexities abound after cascading tan head settles above caramel-hued body. Fungi yeast earthiness inundates vinegary green apple and white grape tartness as well as bubbly champagne pucker, disrupting mild chocolate malting. Unduly dried orange musk and murky ashen walnut char congest embittered citric-spoiled finish. Expectant banana sweetness lost in the muddled mix.
(TEXIAN) BATTLE LINE BROWN ALE
Efficient canned brown ale brings dark-roasted walnut and creamy hazelnut to rangy mocha contingent. Black chocolate, sugared coffee, cocoa powder and peanut buttered nougat illusions reinforced by burnt caramel sweetness.
SOUTHERN STAR BOMBSHELL BLONDE ALE
Faulty non-pasteurized light body (in canned version) needs richer Vienna malting and sharper hop thrust to overcome staid blonde ale profile. Spoiled-to-sugared citrus frontage picks up frisky carbolic spritz above stagnant cereal graining. Wafting floral nuances slip away.
REAL ALE FIREMANS #4 BLONDE ALE
Flimsy lawnmower fare (in canned version) loses spritzy citric zest to spoiled lemon souring and minor diacetyl buttering. Candied grapefruit, orange and banana tartness wavers beside herbal-nipped grassy hop dryness, mild cereal-grained crystal malting and musty sourdough yeast.
KARBACH PONTIFICATOR SMOKED DOPPELBOCK
Swell hybridized doppelbock-rauchbier with silken velvet mouthfeel glides across the tongue as lively brown chocolate and toffee sweetness mellows into cherrywood-smoked peppery hop burn. Random cocoa nibs, date, fig and molasses undertones scour peat-smoked bottom. Tertiary bacon fat, glazed ham and campfire illusions waver.
(NO LABEL) DON JALAPENO
Nondescript Seltzer-watered frontage fades slowly to subtle beechwood-smoked jalapeno peppering (with slight ‘spicy burn’). Roasted jalapeno jag ultimately contrasts corn syrupy sweetness, but its light-bodied aridity and lack of backbone debunk dour Mexican lager-like spice ale.
MOTOR CITY NUT BROWN ALE
Dramatic mahogany-hued light-to-medium body bashes toasted nuttiness with roasted barleymalts and lactic coffee-soured chocolate malting. Earthen peat mustiness consumes variable cola, hazelnut, pecan and peanut illusions as well as minor maple molasses creaming.
MOTOR CITY HONEY PORTER
Bittersweet clover honey adjunct reinforced by dark-roasted black patent malting, ground coffee roast and charred hop singe. Mild Blackstrap molasses, black tea, dark cocoa and charred nut illusions subside to sour lemon-peeled espresso midst. Phenolic raw-honeyed mocha finish receives dirty earthen musk.
MOTOR CITY PALE ALE
1st beer ever made by Detroit microbrewery retains subtle floral citrus appeal and sticky pine resin bittering. Lemon zest, yellow grapefruit peel and orange pith tartness increase mild dry hop bittering.
KUHNHENN FOURTH D OLDE ALE
Tranquil updated 2013 version of Fourth Dimentia Olde Ale shows tremendous depth and complexity. Aged for nine months, barleywine-styled full body triumphantly blends marshmallow-toasted burnt caramel malting with ripe dark-fruited sweetness, lilting sherry-burgundy-port wining and syrupy molasses sapping. Massive prune, raisin and sugared fig overtones enrich candied toffee-chocolate-vanilla surge. Bruised cherry, orange and apple uprising further enhances decadent dessert treat.
LIBERTY STREET THE AMERICAN INDIA PALE ALE
Grim middle-of-the-road moderation with aromatic lemon-peeled briskness and desolate pineapple-orange-tangerine tang embittered by piney yellow grapefruit pith ascendency goes bad when phenolic hop astringency emerges at disturbingly glaring ethyl alcohol finish.
3 SHEEPS EWEPHORIA
Ewe-phoric hybridized chocolate stout/ spice ale combines up-front milk chocolate sweetness with peppermint-backed gingerbread resilience. Latent anise influence affects subsidiary vanilla, cocoa nibs and molasses cookie undertones.