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.
SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION ‘FRESH HOP ALE’ 2010
Well-balanced whole-cone hopped India Pale Ale maintains worthily straightforward appeal. Tangy grapefruit-peeled apricot, apple, orange, melon, and cantaloupe fruiting perfectly juxtaposing piney hop-spiced juniper bittering freshly crisps intangible mineral-grained backup.
SIERRA NEVADA HOPTIMUM IMPERIAL I.P.A.
Complex ‘whole-cone’ hopped bitter drops alcohol-burnt juniper solvency into sugar-caned tropical fruiting and candied apple sweetness. Grapefruit-peeled peach, pineapple, mango, tangerine, and nectarine tang invigorates sticky maple-sapped pine-combed hop bite. Crisp California coastal water freshens intriguing hop-head fave.
MAGIC HAT HEX
Perfunctory moderate-bodied gold-hazed ‘Ourtoberfest’ (registered as nebulous amber ale) lacks expectant autumnal gourd seasoning and suffers slightly from metallic soapiness. Mild honey-glazed pale malting weakened by soured orange-spiced lick, astringent lemon-drop slip, and arid apple-skinned apricot blip to washed-out dry-hopped citric finish. Slick toffee-caramel influence too weak to matter.
LEFT HAND ST. VRAIN TRIPPLE
Thin yellow-glowed Belgian-styled limited edition tripel brings peppery hop pep to mild lemon-seeded pineapple, white peach, yellow apple, brown pear, cantaloupe, and melon fruiting. Modest phenol spicing coerces biscuit-y honey-glazed malting. Lack of stylistic specificity and deficient candi-sugared sweetness lower appeal.
