On tap at Poor Henry’s, softly creamed ‘chewy confectionery’ recalls Peppermint Patty with its up-front mint chocolate freshness. But musty dark-roasted mocha malting and uninformed coffee-stained backdrop usurp some of its candy goodness, lowering its initial dessert aspirations.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, crisp Noble-hopped farmhouse ale places moderate orange-rotted lemon souring atop light pilsner malting and mildly creamed vanilla sugaring. Tart citric briskness retains clean finish.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, vinous sour ale offers musty green grape tannins to lemon-peeled limestone acridity, dry champagne fizz and earthen barnyard parch. Raspy raspberry vinaigrette tartness and oaken cherry pucker spiritedly follow along the acidic grape-soured path.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, exceptional fruit-tart full body drapes pastry-like cake frosting and honeyed malt sugaring across stylish citric-pined hop bittering. Floral grapefruit-peeled orange rind briskness nicely contrasts spruce-sweetened mango, nectarine, pineapple, peach and cherry tang. Tertiary vanilla, coconut and peach marmalade illusions find space below. Bold, complex, unique. Arguably, Clown Shoes is America’s best brewery – and that’s no overstatement.
Delicately dry bourbon-barreled white wining mellows down as earthen barnyard leathering reinforces sour aspect. Light vinous grape pucker, tart raspberry rasp, oaken cherry wisp and champagne-like fizz flutter across sugary fructose subsidy. Plum-dried raisin, fig and apricot undertones add further depth. Betters Stone’s similarly soured Quadrotriticale.
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, alluring limited edition 2015 dessert treat offers rich brown chocolate malting to light whiskey-barreled sweetness and heavily roasted rye, spelt and oats graining. Smoked molasses, cocoa and vanilla advance the sugary mocha theme further as anise-spiced black cherry, plum and prune undertones bring out fruitful complexities.
‘Blatant’ off-center full body whimsically collides rich stout-like ambitions with murky sour fruiting, charred hop acridity and dank cellar-like mustiness. As a result, black patent malting, coffee-stained dark chocolate roast and chalky cocoa powdering take a backseat to burgundy-dried black grape, fig and prune souring, misdirecting the overall indistinct flavor profile. A hint of anise, molasses and cola nut add to the confusion.
Undetermined black-malted dry body opens with friendly creme brulee sweetness but drops off to chalky Baker’s chocolate anonymity. Coarse hop char and flighty roasted nuttiness undercut oats-flaked dark chocolate malting as well as bittersweet cacao nibs snip. Unspecific.
Engaging offshoot of similarly mocha-malted DLF Brown Ale relies on tantalizing vanilla bean creaming and sweet bourbon overtones instead of caramelized coconut. Syrupy molasses sapping drapes dark-roasted mocha malting, fudgy milk chocolate froth and sugared coffee retreat. But its the rich vanilla presence that lingers loudest over tarry hop oils by the seductively noirish finish.
Approachable India Pale Ale brings sharp citric hop bittering to earthen wood tones. Initial grapefruit-peeled orange and pineapple bittering falls off a tad, leaving soft-toned lemon, tangerine, mango, pineapple and mango tang to pick up the slack effectively.
There ain’t much here, but what’s here’s pretty good. Sour citrus tartness receives crystallized candied ginger and Louisiana cane syrup sugaring, though with little resolve. Dry orange-peeled yellow grapefruit tang fades too quickly and the honeyed spine falters. Still…
