Unspecific light-bodied fluff meshes soft caramel malt creaming with mild phenol hop spicing. Dull yellow-orange fruiting ransacks buttery wheat cracker spine.
ROSCOE’S HOP HOUSE PALE ALE
Vague easygoing moderation stays smooth but unfulfilled. Bland bready malts evaporate alongside astringent hop-spiced fizzle. Meager orange-grapefruit snip wavers.
BEER AUTHORITY
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
Located directly across 8th Avenue’s Port Authority one block from Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen section, BEER AUTHORITY opened April 2012. Inside a spacey two-storey golden browned corner spot, this emblematic beer-centric sportsbar gained initial acceptance from true beer geeks as well as casual businessmen and curious tourists.
Initially visited in the late afternoon during November ’13, Beer Authority’s bountiful brewery banners cover nearly every wall and crevice. Its glass-windowed second floor illuminates the large-lettered gold-on-brown signpost glistens upon arrival. And a spacious open-air rooftop bar with bright blue parasols adds to the overall magnificience of this prime urban hotspot.
Upon entrance, a dimunitive ground level 8-seat bar with antique bronze ceiling tiles, fine wood-shelved liquor, 16 tap handles (of familiar craft beers) and large-screen TV welcomes patrons. Chimay, Rogue and Sixpoint banners proudly display the walkway to the sizable second floor.
A massive oak-furnished, beige-sided, duct-exposed expanse with 20 stooled dinner tables cornering the well-kept 20-seat inner-walled bar and TV’s at every conceivable angle bedecking the beer-bannered wall of fame (featuring Flying Dog, Green Flash, Smuttynose, Founders, etc.), its impressive Stone Brewing murel truly seals the deal.
At the bar, two opposing refrigeration units center the two brass tap mounts (pouring 60-plus tapped beers) and a blue Weihenstafaner flag hangs over the prominent Beer Authority NYC mirror. Formidable red and white wines are available on the Brit-twisted pub-fared menu (Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Shepherds Pie; Beef Pot Pie; Lamb Shepherd Pie; Roasted Wild Boar Sausage). “The Authority,” a petite filet mignon with shallot-buttered onions, deserves to be tried.
As night falls, I enjoy one obtuse South American stout and three unconventional Midwest pale bodies (fully reviewed in Beer Index). Out of Brazil, Guanabara Imperial Stout allowed sour-fruited burgundy to upstage expectant brown chocolate creaming. Underwhelming, perhaps, but slightly intriguing.
While Illinois-bound Goose Island Lolita brought vinous raspberry-soured white grape tartness to the fore, Michigan’s Kuhnhenn showed off sweet and sour sides. Kuhnhenn Fluffer Gone Wild (a brettanomyces-funked IPA with sour Gose-like coriander salting dabbing herbal lemon zest) and White Devil (a mellow vanilla-sugared banana bomb with cane-sugared sweetener).
KUHNHENN WHITE DEVIL
On tap at Beer Authority, mellow Imperial White Ale (a.k.a. Weiss Teufel) softly layers lemony yellow-caked vanilla and cane-sugared bruised banana sweetness over delicate white wheat spine. Banana bread, banana liqueur and banana daiquiri nuances dance across the tongue alongside subtle peach, apricot and nectarine whims.
KUHNHENN FLUFFER GONE WILD
On tap at Beer Authority, appealing limited edition brettanomyces-soured India Pale Ale spreads gose-like coriander salting across wafting lemon zest tartness and gentle mineral-grained watering. Mouth-puckering lemon pit souring picks up tertiary lemongrass herbage and leathery horse-blanketed acridity. A wayward IPA hybrid totally affected by wild yeast funk.
GOOSE ISLAND LOLITA
Muskily sharp 2013 version of brettanomyces-soured Belgian-styled wild ale aged in French oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels features soft-tongued raspberry vinaigrette-like souring over vinous white and green grape tannins. Ancillary oaken cherry tartness, hard cider crisping and dry lemon pucker accomodate raw-honeyed mead spree. Dry white-wined balsamic vinegaring and leathery barnyard funk add further lactic acidity.
JACK’S ABBY MASS RISING DOUBLE IMPERIAL PALE LAGER
Vibrant Imperial Pale Ale based on 2nd Anniversary lager recipe enlivened by judicious pineapple-wafted tropical fruiting. Massive pineapple ripeness receives juicy orange-peeled pink grapefruit tang to juxtapose sharp juniper-hopped bittering and resinous hemp-oiled pining. Sugary crystal malting deepens ancillary mango-guava-peach tropicalia.
ADIRONDACK DIRTY BLONDE PALE ALE
Sessionable dry-bodied moderation offers light lemony grapefruit sugaring to mild mineral-grained Cascade hop bittering. Clean Adirondack water crisping freshens daintily herbal citrus florality and raw-honeyed wheat spine.
ADIRONDACK BEAR NAKED AMBER ALE
Barren raw-honeyed spicing and dry nutty smidgen barely surface above brisk mineral-watered crisping. Buttery biscuit backside picks up lemony orange snip and earthen blip. Grassy hop astringency meanders across sludgy mix.
ADIRONDACK BEAVER TAIL BROWN ALE
Dry reedy-hopped nuttiness battles back brisk citric pining and varnished wood tones for unspecific medium-bodied dark ale. Phenolic nature and soapy undercurrent blur ashen walnut-roasted Brazil nut bittering and resinous hemp oiling.
VICTORY 4 HOP BOCK
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, springtime heller bock brings German pilsner yeast to zesty lemon dusting and floral honey mead wining. Delicate clay-hopped spicing tingles effervescent citric-soured finish. Grassy reminder nudges light white wheat spine.
NEW ENGLAND PREMEDITATED MURDER BARLEYWINE
“Ominous” full-bodied barleywine layers creamy dark-roasted mocha richness into resinous piney-hopped dried fruiting. Caramelized brown chocolate malts allow cocoa, molasses, toffee and vanilla undertones to graze fruit-caked fig, raisin and black cherry illusions as well as Madagascar bourbon vanilla nuances.
