Stylishly confounding lactic-soured wee heavy lacks expectant sweet Scotch rampage, but impulsive earthen peat soiling above wavered caramel-chocolate malting finds space amongst blackstrap molasses, sour date, cola nut, and fennel illusions. Pungent compost-wafted fungi-smudged damp-wooded soy milking infiltrates chalky cocoa subsidy. Closer to a brown or black ale given low Scotch profile.
(HORSEHEADS) SULLIVAN’S STOUT
Perplexed dry-bodied coffee stout from New York’s remote Finger Lakes area recalls oily schwarzbier or less intense Cascadian dark ale (a.k.a. Black IPA). Earthen peat moss seeps into malt-smoked black grape, black cherry, and blackberry souring to mild cocoa-chalked coffee ground bottom. Tertiary espresso, black chocolate, and fudge illusions linger far behind.
MAGIC HAT VINYL LAGER
Smudgy flavor profile drifts off to nebulous dry-hopped phenol-spiced floral fruited waywardness. Tepid caramel malting, petty grape-skinned orange-soured tangerine-apricot tang and muddled coffee-stained Blackstrap molasses drear sink mild session beer dedicated to vinyl recordings of yore.
MAGIC HAT DEMO I.P.A.
Slick Black India Pale Ale (redefined as Cascadian Dark Ale) may lack sufficient hop bite and malt thrust, but its overall appeal maintains predictable efficiency. Black grape, blackberry, and black cherry (usual Black IPA suspects) reach mildly creamy milk chocolate center. Weedy fennel spicing and terse black currant dicing reach recessive molasses-sapped nut-tinged chicory coffee bittering.
COTTRELL OLD YANKEE ALE
Basic moderate-bodied session beer perhaps closer to easygoing toasted lager than fruitful pale ale. Jaunty cereal-grained almond, pecan, and marzipan conflux drapes citric-dried lemon zest tingle. Mild orange-tangerine tang envelops roasted caramel malting. Phenol hop fizzing underscores doughy salted pretzel buttering.
SIXPOINT SEHR CRISP PILSNER
On tap, brusque German-style bohemian pilsner retains musty bread-crusted grain malting, dried-out yellow-fruited pungency and earthen hop musk. Sweet biscuit-y notion placates raw wheat bottom, sour mash wort and mild resinous bittering. Stylistically robust.
GREENPORT HARBOR TRITON BARLEYWINE
On tap, velvety soft-tongued ‘strong ale’ doesn’t try to knock guzzler over the head with covert 9% alcohol whir. Instead, brisk India Pale Ale-like floral fruiting and sugary caramel-crystal malting overtake relegated spice-hopped bittering. Sweet-buttered peach, pear, and orange tang gains luster over syrupy molasses sapping.
VICTORY HARVEST PILS
Rustic German pilsner pleats leathery barnyard astringency with wood-dried lemon rot, peach mold, and mildewed orange coarseness. Mowed grass, horsehair, hay, and alfalfa harbor raw wheat backdrop. Iodine-like alcohol acridity, vegetal anomaly, and cardboard papering nearly sabotage protracted citric pungency.
HARPOON LEVIATHAN TRITICUS
Adventurous unfiltered dry-hopped wheat-wined ale blends dark fruited maple-molasses malting with rum-spiced bourbon-burgundy-sherry stimulation and sticky anise-currant viscosity. Fluctuant black cherry, blueberry, raisin, and grape illusions enrich chewy caramel-chocolate ascension.
BLUE POINT OLD HOWLING BASTARD ’09
On tap, sinister wintry aged barleywine emits creamy molasses-honeyed brown-sugared sweetness and massive IPA-like fruit tang above acetous wood-dried alcohol-burnt juniper bittering. Scotch-malted cherry, blueberry, peach, nectarine, and apricot engage raisin-breaded vanilla-caked Graham Cracker spine. Resinous hop-oiled pine needling bleeds into caramelized rye glaze.
GRAND TETON XX BITCH CREEK DOUBLE ESB
Nearly as fabulous as original 20th anniversary ’08 Bitch Creek, this cellar-reserved bottle-conditioned double-malted double-hopped strong ale retains ripe fruiting and deep spicing of inceptive version. Sharper woody hopped bittering brings iodine-like alcohol burn to everlasting aftertaste, contrasting crisp mineral-grained fresh water soothe while overriding grapefruit-peeled pineapple, apple, pear, and orange tang. Centralized chocolate-cocoa malting opposes cellar-like fungi yeast musk.
STILLWATER ARTISANAL AMERICAN FARMHOUSE ALE
Curious gold-hazed beige-headed saison-styled farmhouse ‘wheat ale brewed with sage’ perfectly combines herbs, spices, and fruits. Black-peppered bay-leafed sage, hibiscus, lemongrass, rosemary, and lavender bolster lacquered clover-honeyed pineapple-tangerine-cherry-apricot tang before musty cellar funk plunders mild lemon-seeded grapefruit-peeled lime-lined bittering.