Embracing a nuttier coffee affluence than Atwater’s Vanilla Java Porter, full-bodied dark ale layers caramel-burnt black patent malts, dark chocolate richness and coffee bean roast atop ashen hazelnut-walnut-cola conflux. Raw molasses bittering and dark-roasted hop char advance malleable mocha mass.
Better updated version (2013) loads creamy French vanilla bean roast and lovely milked coffee sedation into caramel-burnt hop char. Fudgy black chocolate midst contrasts raw molasses bittering and wavered black pepper snip. Latent cappuccino hints abound. 2019 version let mildly creamed cocoa-dried vanilla bean bittering hover alongside cedar-seared Blackstrap molasses hop char, but minor phenol aridity beckons.
Sessionable and well-rounded moderation thrusts illustrious honey fruited bouquet into mild grassy hop resin. Sweet peach, nectar, mango and mandarin orange vibrancy fades slowly as bitter lemon-seeded yellow grapefruit and pineapple briskness increases. Some musty cellar dankness disrupts its delicate crystalline flow.
Fair lawnmower fare in purplish golden can spreads mild orange-peeled coriander adjunct across white-peppered Belgian yeast and soft-watered backdrop. Lightly sugared pink grapefruit, lemon pith, yellow apple and white grape illusions add distant flare.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.