Unique flavor profile pits rauchbier-like ashen campfire acridity and cured meat singe against sweet smoked whiskey tones. Pine-sapped molasses and burnt cedar sweeten the insistent peated barley graining. Raisin, date and plum illusions stay distant.
HOF TEN DORMAAL BELGIAN BLOND ALE BREW NO. 2 – COGNAC
Expressive nickel-hazed barrel-aged Belgian pale ale (with stinging 12% alcohol burn) brings sweet apple cider entry to creamy cognac warmth and rummy butterscotch-toffee sugaring. Hefeweizen-like banana-clove uprising and buttery almond-chestnut subtlety pick up latent peach, tangerine and mango undertones.
DUPONT LA BIERE DE BELOEIL
On tap at Julian’s Restaurant, strong Belgian pale ale (or reluctant Biere De Garde) brings white-peppered yeast funk to sweet ‘n sour herbal fruiting. Musty cellar-like earthen herbs, dry bark wood tones and pink peppercorn seasoning contrast honey-spiced blood orange, tangerine, nectarine, green apple and melon illusions.
8 WIRED C4 DOUBLE COFFEE BROWN ALE
Phenomenal Ethiopian coffee-beaned full body with bittersweet dark-roasted chocolate milking and sweet vanilla creaming perfect on its own or as a relaxing dessert treat. Oats-charred peat mossing, Baker’s chocolate respite, light espresso niche and mild hazelnut snip create busy backdrop. Compares favorably to coffee-enriched porters and java-based mocha stouts.
FINCH’S THREADLESS IPA
Seamlessly rounded canned India Pale Ale allows resinous hop oiling and piney floral aspect to guard assertive fruited imprint. Orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, peach, mango, papaya, melon and cantaloupe tang receives crystal malt sugaring to contrast bark-dried wood lacquering and brisk juniper berry bittering.
FINCH’S FASCIST PIG ALE
Surprisingly tranquil despite harsh-toned moniker, dry-hopped amber ale (in a can) brings subtle amber-grained rye toasting and molasses-like caramel malting to docile brown apple, brown pear, black cherry, tangerine and apricot fruiting. Black peppercorn hints softly embitter the arid backend.
FINCH’S GOLDEN WING BLONDE ALE
Snazzy well-balanced light body in a can spreads smooth-watered citric hop spicing across dry wood-toned earthiness and buttered white bread bottom. Sunny lemony grapefruit bittering and grassy herbal nip pick up variable pungent astringency.
GOOSE ISLAND SOFIE PARADISI
Highly tauted grapefruit-juiced sour saison aged in wine barrels offers succulent citric peeled bite to vinous green grape tannins, bringing forth gin-soaked Chardonnay, pinot grigio and champagne wining by the dry-fruited finish. White peppering affects ancillary lemon zest, green apple, nectarine, mango, pear and kiwi illusions. Oaken musk and farmhouse elements (hay, horsehide, wild oats) properly dessicate fruity paradise.
GOOSE ISLAND 25TH ANNIVERSARY ALE
On tap at Track 84, easygoing English-styled Extra Special Bitter layers rustic raw-honeyed tealeaf herbage atop roasted caramel malts, resinous dry-hopped rye breading and slimmest nuttiness. Vague orange peel bittering fades precipitously. Surprisingly inconsequential for quarter-century silver jubilee, especially considering brewery’s sterling heritage.
SMUTTYNOSE NOONAN BLACK IPA
On tap at Three Wise Monks, Cascadian Dark Ale style reinvented by pioneering Vermont Brewery brewmaster Greg Noonan gets appropos sendoff. Creamy mocha insistence rides above polite piney grapefruit bittering. Dark-grained caramel malting and dark chocolate fudging seep deeply into coffee-roasted ashen nuttiness.
UINTA LABYRINTH BLACK ALE
On tap at Track 84, decadent rye-barreled Imperial Stout comes across velvety smooth despite well-hidden 13.2% alcohol volume, chewy mocha creaming, gooey molasses-sapped anise seepage and whiskey-nipped bourbon-burgundy wining. Oak-toasted hop char reinforces fudgy black-brown chocolate richness and ancillary black cherry, prune and raisin dried fruiting. Vanilla, marshmallow, coconut, pecan, praline and hazelnut subtleties abound below luscious creamed coffee theme.
UINTA WYLD EXTRA PALE ALE
Light, refreshing and unassuming canned pale ale with organic dry-hopped barley malting and resinous earthen wood enveloping misty lemony grapefruit and orange zest. Herbal respite softens bittersweet citrus tones.
