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.
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.
Velvety brown-bodied relaxant brings dark-roasted amber graining and mild dry-hopped bittering to Graham Cracker-honeyed dark wheat malting. Soured fig-date conflux fades beneath dark chocolate, espresso and molasses subsidy. Call it a hybridized dunkelweizen with porter-like leanings.
Nearly everything a moderate-bodied amber ale should be. Spicy red-orange fruiting and sharp hop bittering override caramel-toasted cereal graining. Fluttered red apple, brown pear, green grape and white peach illusions pick up slick diacetyl astringency that ruins initial promise.
Rustic pilsner malts bring light toasted graining to musty yellow-fruited dalliance and pungent wood-dried hop bittering. Polite carbolic fizz and faint phenol esters mask mild grapefruit niche while white-breaded bottom softens precipitously.
Confusingly confounding wordage regales modern art label of nickel-hued medium body. Pungent hop bittering gains resinous pine-needled mildness to satiate floral-bound dried fruiting. Honeyed fig and apricot undertones slither by teasing yellow grapefruit nip, settling softly at biscuity malt base.
Gripping oatmeal porter loads dark-roasted mocha malts, creamy dark cocoa powdering and fudgy cookie dough yeast atop ashen wood-smoked hop char. Baker’s chocolate, Hershey’s chocolate, light-roasted coffee, vanilla and molasses subsidies deepen heady mocha theme to its capacious oats-sugared spine.
Interpolating a Cascadian Dark Ale (a.k.a. Black IPA) with sour saison yeast and earthen barnyard funk, far-reaching farmhouse brew allows dark-roasted mocha malting, pine-charred hop bittering and spoiled citrus piquancy to set the tone. Raw molasses tarring embitters chocolate-roasted coffee bean backdrop. In the distance, dry bourbon and burgundy undertones emerge alongside a smidgen of mildewed peat soiling.
Naturally nuttier than brewers’ Ultrahighfrequency, draping dark-roasted chocolate malts across maple-glazed walnut, pecan and hazelnut illusions. Smoky mocha assertiveness gains prominence after the first few sips. Piney citrus hop bittering deepens over time.
Exemplary floral-fruited Imperial farmhouse IPA (with camouflaged 10% ABV) contrasts juicy tropical tang and crystal malt sweetness against soft citric-hopped bittering. Yellow grapefruit-peeled lemon zest, mandarin orange, clementine, tangerine and banana illusions abound over earthen minerality to delicate white-breaded spine. Perfumed orange blossom oiling, vinous green grape tartness, mild peppercorn prickle and docile rosebud-lilac wafts provide pertinent backup. A perfectly mellow saison/ IPA hybrid.
Strictly American-styled medium body (sans Solemn Oath’s usual Belgian influence) tosses massive piney hop bittering at dark-roasted rye graining, toasted caramel nuttiness and honeyed fruit bouquet. Tangy red apple, brown apple, peach, melon, honeydew and cantaloupe sweetness quickly embittered by sharp orange rind, pink grapefruit and pineapple briskness.
Approachable saison moderation softens white-wined Chardonnay buttering with light grapefruit-orange tartness, lemon-rotted champagne grape souring, lilting lemongrass liming and floral-hopped pleasantries (layered above a biscuity malt base). French saison yeast offers ascending lactobacillus acidity to dry earthen bottom.
