Bland German-styled altbier with diacetyl ESB-like toasted graining obstructing indifferent fig-soured herbal spicing. Raw molasses acridity picks up nasty metallic sheen.
NEBRASKA MELANGE A TROIS BELGIAN ALE (AGED IN CHARDONNAY)
Exquisite Belgian-styled blonde ale aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels balances sweet n’ sour accents well. Vinous white grape pucker and oaken cherry bittering beautifully contrasted by vanilla-creamed honeyed mead sweetness. Ancillary peach, nectarine, pineapple and green apple tang envelops champagne-bubbled dry bourbon perk, musky white-peppered lemongrass tingle and latent lemon curry snip.
BALLAST POINT SEXTANT OATMEAL STOUT
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, thin one-dimensional dark ale loses initial Hershey’s Kiss black chocolate delight and settles for arid hop-charred nuttiness. Despite adding Cafe Calabria coffee to barley-flaked oats roast, lactic cocoa-powdered acridity and sooty peat reminder outdo quick java swipe. Mucky mocha murk diverts black cherry snip. Way too watery, inefficient and uninvolving.
(COLORADO) GUANABARA IMPERIAL STOUT
Curious Brazilian stout (a.k.a Ithaca) nearly drowns out stylistic brown chocolate creaming with vinous purple grape souring and dry burgundy-wined plum, fig and date uprising. Warbly coffee-burnt molasses undertones drape sharp hop-spiced sensation. Soy-milked snip and charcoal blip make cameos. But expansive flavor profile seems murky.
(LOCAL OPTION) BLOOD OV THE KINGS
Balanced, though nondescript, pale wheat ale (bottled for Illinois’ Local Option Bierwerker) recalls rich multi-grained Extra Special Bitter. Clean-watered minerality allows brisk lemon crisping to soften bread-crusted wheat biscuit midst. Dewy herbaceous remnant and a hint of brown rice found at unresolved finish.
CAVALRY ARTICLE 15 NUT BROWN ALE
Perfectly straightforward English-styled brown ale just a tad less rounded than astonishing Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. Maple-sugared hazelnut and cola sweetness contrasts astringent walnut-dried hop char and raw molasses bittering. Tobacco-roasted barley malt crisping enhances pleasant nutty resolve. Brown-sugared dark toffee undertones increase sweet side.
KEEGAN LONGEST DAY IPA
Sessionable summertime fodder evenly spreads stylistic citric-pined bittering across creamy crystal malt sweetness and grassy hop florality. Moderate orange-peeled pineapple, grapefruit and apricot tang well-suited for softer thirsts ready to explore more approachable India Pale Ales.
(COASTAL EXTREME) ANGELS ENVY BARREL-AGED ALE
Inexpressive rum barrel-aged strong ale lacks flavor and depth. Wood-charred dark rum whimper fades above light chocolate-malted raw molasses spell and depleted fig-soured green coffee bittering. A hint of beechwood smoke found in deep recess alongside residual caramel, vanilla and toffee snips.
BRASH THE BOLLOCKS IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE
Praiseworthy full-bodied Imperial IPA loads doughy caramelized yeast sinew into floral fruited goodness as well as chewy helles bock-like almond, pecan and marzipan sweetness. Sticky hop-oiled pine resin bittering contrasts tropical pineapple-mango-cantaloupe-melon conflux, orange-bruised tangerine-peach-pear-apple tang and candied butterscotch sugaring. A true hopheads delight reinforced by a significant malt thrust.
(CAMBRIDGE) THE GREAT PUMPKIN ALE
Inconstant 2013 version vacillates between lightly spiced sugar pumpkin-skinned alacrity to raw gourd-squash-zucchini rusticity. Subtly perfumed cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice seasoning gets washed-out before soft-watered pumpkin pie likeness picks up minor clay-hopped plasticity.
TWO ROADS VIA CORDIS ABBEY BLONDE
Piquant lemon-seeded souring fronts dry Belgian-styled blonde ale. Sour-candied grapefruit tartness, white-peppered lemongrass oiling and herbal-nipped plantain smidgen contrast farmhouse-like barnyard, hay and wheat-grass rusticity at the backend. A casual session ale for lightweights.
RUSHING DUCK DE LEVENDE DODEN
On tap at Growler & Gill, mocha-bound Belgian dark ale (a.k.a The Living Dead) provides powdered Baker’s chocolate theme for dried fruited nature. Belgian Trappist yeast influences sweet chocolate-spiced midst as well as desiccated fig, cherry and grape notions. Ancillary anise-oiled fennel snip deepens semi-complex nature.
