Slick, indistinct, lame. Astringent grassy-hopped orange-dried spicing develops mucky diacetyl buttering over doughy breading. Meager honeyed almond undertone fades. Stick with much better Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale instead.
SIERRA NEVADA ESTATE HOMEGROWN WET HOP ALE
Leisurely wet-hopped India Pale Ale stays stylistically light, bettering most blandly unsweetened organic competitors. Freshly tilled earthen graining complements zesty grapefruit rind bittering, sharp herbal hop spicing, and resinous piney bottom. Silken crystal sugaring underlies mild stone fruiting. As it warms, honeyed peach, apricot tea, red cherry, lemon zest, passion fruit and a hint of mint find tertiary space.
SAMUEL ADAMS THE VIXEN CHOCOLATE CHILI BOCK
Expressively easygoing single-batch bock maintains mellow disposition despite wide-ranging mocha-bound flavor profile. Advertised ‘spicy heat’ from the chili peppering stays subtle beneath milk chocolate creaming and nutty dried fruiting. Intricately woven sherry-bourbon warmth underscores black-breaded molasses stead, coffee-roasted tranquility and cinnamon-spiced cola nuttiness. Belgian chocolate spicing heaped upon ancillary bruised cherry, purple grape and sugared fig nuances. 2012 re-tasting: Improved obsidian-browned dessert beer gained richer chocolate-covered cherry theme above bourbon-doused raisin puree, stewed prune, fig and cherry fruiting dovetailing soft chili backdrop. Chocolate-caked toffee-butterscotch sweetness, maple-sapped Blackstrap molasses sinew and wavered espresso-cappuccino hints crowd back-throated black anise tongue coating.
MIKKELLER NUGGET SINGLE HOP I.P.A.
Wonderful ‘American-styled’ barleywine-like India Pale Ale goes beyond any stylistic comparison, maintaining an easygoing ‘nugget hop’ appeal that won’t preclude softer palates. Stimulatingly sumptuous syrupy Scotch sweetness embraces bruised orange-cherry juicing and wafting orange blossom nicety. Tangy cantaloupe, peach, tangerine, melon and orange marmalade illusions sweeten cotton-candied marshmallow undertones. Way more expressive than coarser Scotch-licked orange fruited elixirs.
FULL SAIL ELEVATION IMPERIAL I.P.A.
Beautifully well balanced and stylistically efficient medium-to-full-bodied Oregonian deserves ‘elevated’ status. Floral honeysuckle aromatics seep into crisp-watered, piney-hopped, grapefruit-peeled sure shot. Sweet spruce overtones and creamy caramelized crystal malting caress expectant apple-peach-orange-melon-pineapple medley, contrasting heightened juniper-like bittering.
BLUE HILLS THREE PEAK HOLIDAY STOUT
Indelible coffee roast sidled by milky brown chocolate sweetness all the way through for uniformly lactic winter-spiced medium body. Cocoa, toffee and vanilla saturate subtle burgundy-rum boozing and muted cinnamon-toasted nutmeg spicing to affably nutty coffee bean finish.
BALASHI CHILL
Crisply light-bodied with minimal grain-toasted hop roast, stable French bread-crusted affinity and salty lemon lime brining. Fizzy phenol astringency kept down. Goes well with cheap snacks on a sweltering sunny afternoon.
BRUGSE HENDRIK QUADRUPEL
Exquisitely detailed multi-layered strong ale (11%) brings immediate warmth as engrossingly rich dessert tranquilizer. Floral-soaked cognac, bourbon and spiced wine illusions float to the surface above dank-cellared fungi yeast, informing dried-fruited black cherry, raisin, prune, and date nuances. Chewy brown-sugared caramel malting and sweet vanilla daub contrast underlying black-peppered hop bittering and vinous grape snip.
ATWATER GRAND CIRCUS INDIA PALE ALE
Trivial canned IPA with evaporative pine fruiting lacks specificity and character. Metallic sheen overrides distant pineapple-grapefruit snip and bland white-breaded graining. Perhaps closer to a British IPA with its dryer grain mash and saltier earthen bottom.
AVERY JOE’S PREMIUM AMERICAN PILSNER
Terrific light-bodied straw-hazed pils contrasts mild bitterness with tingly citric sweetness to perfection. Wafting skunked pungency never negates easygoing grassy-hopped crystal malting. Challah-breaded biscuit, sourdough and flour undertones whisk by arid straw-grained pine-barked astringency and sudsy carbolic Seltzer fizzing. Docile lemon custard, key lime pie and marmalade illusions fill floral backdrop. A simple soft-toned pilsner with some legs.
SAMUEL ADAMS THIRTEENTH HOUR DARK BELGIAN STOUT
Vigorous ‘Kosmic Mother Funk’ aged in oak barrels overlays sour Belgian yeast funk with dark-fruited rum, bourbon, burgundy, and Courvoisier toxicity as aromatic black pepper fills the air. Chocolate-spiced raisin, plum, fig and dried cherry illusions form at the vanilla-daubed molasses midst while back-tongued cardamom-nutmeg-ginger seasoning reaches a light-roast brown coffee simmer. Advertised ‘oaken’ aspect gets downplayed.
WACHUSETT MILK STOUT
Efficiently expressive milk chocolate creaminess picks up oats-sugared vanilla, crème de cocoa, hazelnut coffee, cappuccino and toffee illusions over dewy peat. Rich lactic layout slightly embittered by hop-charred roast. Serve to Milk Dud lovers.
