Stylistically robust clear-yellowed tin-canned helles lager works maize-dried sorghum and straw wheat into corn-flaked neutrality. Off-putting musty hop astringency and minor metallic tinniness disrupt tepid lemon spritz.
DRAGONMEAD SIR WILLIAMS EXTRA SPECIAL BITTER
Worthwhile English-style ale (in limited edition bottles circa ’14) brings tea-like dewy peat earthiness and roasted tobacco crisping to resinous hop bittering. Underlying toffee sweetness adds contrast. Dried fig and musty raw-honeyed rye nuances seep thru.
DARK HORSE AMBER ALE
Indifferent rust-hazed ‘classic ale’ blends Belgian blonde-styled dried fruiting with pungent ESB-like dewy peat earthiness. Toasted barleymalts secure raw-honeyed rye and pumpernickel breading to the biscuit-y bottom. Murky plantain, date, fig, blood orange and tangelo illusions fail to fully integrate.
CALDERA ROSE PETAL IMPERIAL GOLDEN ALE
Botanical soft-watered moderation (made in small batches) layers effervescent yellow-orange fruiting atop perfumed hop spices. Brewed with rose petals and Bulgarian rose water, its lemon-honeyed herbal tea spree picks up dainty saffron, lotus, lavender, sage and pink peppercorn niceties. Subtle floral peach tones drape the zesty citric finish.
FIRESTONE WALKER OPAL DRY-HOPPED SAISON
“Rustic” fluorescent-yellowed Wallonian saison packs dank barnyard graining into succulent citric intrigue. Musky alfalfa, hay and raw wheat inundate effervescent lemon-seeded yellow grapefruit, clementine and navel orange fruiting as well as white-wined Sauvignon Blanc tartness and salty lime bite. White-peppered Belgian yeast funk and latent lemongrass-gooseberry-peppercorn undertones increase complexity. Tertiary pineapple, peach, mango, nectar and kiwi tropicalia found beneath salient citrus acidity.
SIERRA NEVADA SNOW WIT WHITE IPA
Experimental dwarf hops (with dense cones) bring forth zesty lemon-polished grapefruit peel bittering, but unassuming Belgian wit influence and Seltzer-like phenolic fizzing may confound lighter thirsts. Floral-spiced herbal hops and sharp wood tones provide dry botanical backdrop for sizable citric spritz. Orange-peeled peach, apricot and pineapple fruiting adds depth. Aggressive carbolic fluff may denigrate salted citrus finish.
WELLS STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING ALE
Tolerable dessert beer spreads dark toffee all over creamy brown chocolate, vanilla and coffee illusions. Chocolate pudding, marzipan, almond, pecan and hazelnut undertones further sweeten burnt caramel malting. But coarse hop-charred bittering counters with heavy-handed astringency.
CZECHVAR DARK LAGER
Before America’s microbrew revolution swept the nation, this original Czech-based Budweiser product would rate higher. But competition’s thru the roof so its mild dark-roasted mocha malting and pleasant toasted hop bittering seem complacent by today’s standards. Dusty cocoa-powdered dark chocolate chalking, distant brown-sugared molasses sapping and slight chestnut-praline conflux pick up minor charcoal acridity for musty Old World moderation.
LVIVSKE WHITE LION
Moribund straw-hazed Ukrainian witbier suffers from indecisiveness. Sour lemon-candied navel orange desiccation and corn-malted white wheat blandness depleted by salty hop fizz. Gluey grout aromatics displace murky butterscotch, banana and coriander sentiments.
COSTA RICA TRIP: FAIR BEER, FRIENDLY PEOPLE, AWESOME WAVES
During a fantastic one-week sojourn to Joca, Costa Rica, a shanty-like Pacific Ocean inlet town with monstrous waves, found a few subpar beers, April ’14. But the food was always great, the fishing exciting, and the wildlife flourishing. A dozen macaws, several iguanas and a few lizards kept my wife and I comfort on our 25th anniversary at the beautiful Hotel Club Del Mar.
Listed below are the beers found in Costa Rica. None are recommended, but all suit the easygoing appeal of Costa Rica’s tropical climate.
(COSTA RICA) IMPERIAL SILVER
Best selling Costa Rican beer on West Coast circa 2014 has to be this slightly cloy malt-sugared moderation. Sugar-caned corn sweetness outdoes astringent maize-hopped acridity, picking up cloy wet-papered stickiness if clear-yellowed light body gets warm. Friendly hop spritz coats white-breaded spine. Tinnier canned version loses luster.
(COSTA RICA) BAVARIA DARK
Somewhat dull dark lager at least betters most nebulously drab schwarzbiers. Dark chocolate, toffee and cocoa tones get coarsened a tad by astringent light-roasted hop murk. Pecan, marzipan and burgundy illusions tease the soft mocha surface. FYI: go to elpedalero.com for coolest collection of Latin American beer labels.
