Diabolically horrid French pale lager with fusel-like 11.5% alcohol bluster and nasty cheap vodka astringency worse than 40-ounce malt liquor. Cloy corn whiskey spell drops off to diacetyl Chardonnay rancidity, picking up sinewy cat-pissed turpentine linger. Yuck.
HOF TEN DORMAAL BELGIAN DARK ALE – ARMAGNAC
Splendid oak-aged Belgian blonde, which gains darker complexion in the barrel, retains better flavor profile than Hof Ten’s cognac version. Sweet armagnac warmth adds creamy oaken vanilla buttering to brandy-wined raisin, prune and fig overtones. Fruit-caked midst picks up tart white cherry souring and juicy purple and red grape ripeness.
HOF TEN DORMAAL BELGIAN DARK ALE -COGNAC
Traditional Belgian blonde ale used as base for oak-aged 12% alcohol-fused brown body. Cognac barrel adds mellow warmth and rich sweetness to supple red-wined tenacity and pureed berry swerve. Vinous grape tannins provide sour refuge to sugared Bordeau, Beaujolais, bourbon and burgundy luster. Plum-wined strawberry, blackberry, boysenberry and rapsberry rasp finds middle ground. Receding red licorice nip spotted.
CRABBIE’S ORIGINAL ALCOHOLIC GINGER BEER
United Kingdom’s #1 selling ginger beer better defined as a malt beverage (lacking grain base). Summery refreshment derived from minty ginger leaf herbage avoids nastily cloying nature of its ilk. Light, bubbly effervescence prickles the tongue as honey-dipped backdrop picks up slight peppermint throat burn. Try with a lemon or lime slice to add fruity zest.
CAMBRIDGE SGT. PEPPER FARMHOUSE ALE
Taking the Beatles classic ’67 album title as its moniker, this easygoing saison effectively incorporates pink, black and green peppercorn spicing to candi-sugared yeast, mild rye malts and tropical fruits. Tangy orange, pineapple, peach and grape illusions spread across wheat-husked wild oats and earthen olfactory potpourri. Uncommon black-peppered jalapeno burn adds unique luster to the finish, but may interfere with fruitier elements.
TAILGATE BLACKTOP BLONDE
Flagship ‘Golden Blonde Ale’ gets canned in Wisconsin for California brewer. Sessionable ‘tailgating moderation’ brings corn syrupy honey spicing to mild Cascade hop bittering. Sugary citric sweetness seems a bit artificial and wheat-rice spine falters. Nonetheless, slick fodder beats cheap malt liquor. On second tasting: sweet-spiced sourdough continuance doubled its value.
EVIL TWIN RYAN AND THE BEASTER BUNNY
Veritable gypsy Denmark brewer strikes again with rustic farmhouse saison brewed by Connecticut’s Two Roads. Cellar-like fungi yeast musk saturates herbaceous clay-hopped black peppering and tart citric briskness. Musty straw wheat, wild oats, alfalfa, fennel and sod earthiness contrasts juicy grapefruit rind, lemon zest and orange peel illusions. Lemongrass, orange blossom and grains of paradise undertones secure the pungent soily backend (alongside wispy green, yellow and white grape snips).
COLLESI IMPER ALE BIONDA
Silken bottle-conditioned Italian tripel (described as Belgian strong pale ale) grafts fuzzy champagne-like green grape tartness to gentle vanilla slipstream and fresh-baked Italian bread crust. Light pinot grigios, chardonnay and green apple illusions add vinous niche to dry earthen backdrop.
BRASH HOT FUZZ IMPERIAL COFFEE PORTER (BREWED WITH COFFEE AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS)
Rewarding oak-aged stout brewed by reliable Mercury Brewing for Brash. Relaxing whiskeyed coffee frontage picks up smoked chocolate malting and bourbon vanilla beaning. Chocolate cake, maple molasses, raisin, prune and espresso undertones thicken the chewy anise backend.
OLDE BURNSIDE HOP’T SCOT
Judicious hop bittering gives grain-embedded wee heavy Scottish ale its advertised English India Pale Ale character. Creamy eggshell head sits atop hazy amber body, providing fluffy froth for dewy peat rusticity and sugary pale-malted honey nut linger. Earthen bottom saturated by black tea, resin and clay nuances.
FURTHERMORE MAKEWEIGHT
Bastardized ‘triple pale ale’ closer to Belgian IPA with its sweet candi-sugared yeast and lively herbal fruiting. Lemon meringue, orange marmalade, yellow banana, green apple, black cherry and blackberry notions sweetened by creamy caramel malting. Resinous hops fortify front-loaded fruiting, honeyed tea scamper and tannic grape souring. Gritty Beefeater gin alcohol burn seeps into ‘ecumenical mash-up.’
FURTHERMORE FATTY BOOMBALATTY
Well balanced medium-bodied pale ale may lack expectant Belgian yeast influence, but ripe fruited tropicalia and buttery cereal-sugared caramel malting never falter. Black-peppered hop spicing enlivens pertinent lemon-bruised tangerine, pineapple and banana illusions. Slight vodka snip grafts fusel alcohol astringency to fruity aspects.
