Blandly watered down schwarzbier styling stays soapy, indecisive and indistinct. Washed out chocolate malting and dirty peat soiling cloak oily coffee drear. Peat mossy bottom goes flat.
(CLIPPER CITY) HEAVY SEAS LETTER OF MARQUE 2011 (CASK VERSION)
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, softly creamed copper-toned Belgian dubbel (cask version) brings mild floral waft to receptive dried apricot, medicinal cherry and navel orange tones. Dainty pilsner malting underscores dehydrated fruiting.
(ATLANTA) LAUGHING SKULL AMBER ALE
Indistinct, but not unwelcome, stylistic changeup, rich for its class, but completely desolate up-front. Bittersweet apple-skinned naval orange, pink grapefruit, peach, and cherry tartness evaporates above chewy caramel buttering. Minor vegetal-wafted fungi sourness befits tertiary celery, rhubarb and spinach musk. Frugal flavoring stays at back of the throat. Under Red Brick banner (2013), leathery tobacco-roasted minerality brought dryer rye-breaded ESB-like profile to the citric-slighted fore.
SHINER KOSMOS RESERVE
Vapid dry-hopped Bavarian-styled pale lager lacks prevailing flavor profile. Instead, washed-out citric tartness ekes out space beside faded green grape esters, diluted Granny Smith apple pucker, and distant grapefruit dab. Earthen vegetal dulling and astringent honeyed malting pick up minor dishwater solvency.
ORANGE BLOSSOM PILSNER
Perfectly bland summer afternoon lawnmower fare with sticky-tongued orange blossom honey mildness above thin white wheat base gets lost in phenol hop astringency. Trifling orange-tangerine soaping, vegetal maize-dried snip and cardboard backdrop lag behind. Brewed by South Carolina’s Thomas Hooker for Orlando-based nanobrewery.
IRON HILL AFTERNOON DELIGHT IMPERIAL COFFEE PORTER
Lusty mahogany-shaded prune-hued dry porter with rich Nicaraguan and Sumatran coffee bean intrigue plies cedar-burnt hop char and nutty mocha continuance to bourbon-wined molasses sapping. Chocolate milk, vanilla bean, cocoa nibs, soy, and black cherry subsidy rounds out ashen wood-smoked backdrop. Cappuccino, espresso, and dark chocolate elevate extremely penetrative coffee roast finish. An incredible nightcap.
OMMEGANG APHRODITE
‘Ethereal’ dry-bodied fruit ale plies lactic brettanomyces yeast funk to tart white-peppered raspberry vinaigrette sourness, bubbly champagne-like fizz and brimstone limed salting for interestingly complex, burgundy-hued, pinkish-headed, pilsner-malted lightweight. Oaken cherry, green apple, green grape, grains of paradise and Japanese pear nuances given vinegary solvent-like pucker and woody barnyard parch to punctuate sour ale tendencies.
BLUE MOON SUMMER HONEY WHEAT
Mediocre straw-paled summer seasonal brings thin honey wheat moderation to washed-out mandarin orange, lemon zest and tangerine lag, becoming astringent by cloying clover-honeyed coughdrop finish. Nominal white-peppered coriander spicing fades in the stretch, abating citric dollop. Serve to blander tastes only.
LAGUNITAS SONOMA FARMHOUSE HOP STOOPID
LAGUNITAS LUCKY 13.ALT
Beefed-up alternative version of Lucky 13 Red Ale posing as American strong ale brings woody Amarillo hop dryness to richer spiced fruits. Floral-bound pineapple, grapefruit and peach tropicalia increases honey-roasted caramel malt sweetness contrasting parched oaken bittering.
LAGUNITAS A LITTLE SUMPIN’ SUMPIN’ ALE
Enjoyable wheat-wined IPA proffers lemony peach, pineapple, kiwi and papaya brightness to contrast ascending woody hop-roasted bittering. Wafting floral respite grazes juicy-fruited zest. Creamy caramel malting further sweetens honeyed wheat back end.
SPRING HOUSE TAPROOM
LANCASTER / MOUNT JOY, PENNSYLVANIA
Residing in Lancaster’s Central Market at Hager Arcade, SPRING HOUSE TAPROOM serves craft beer originating from nearby Conestoga’s Spring House Brewing – originally a small keg-only barnyard operation started in 2007. Utilizing natural spring water emanating from its basement, the boorish stable’s brew house has grown fast. On my pre-noon stopover, 7 Gates Pale Ale, Spring House’s flagship beer, just started getting bottled for Pennsylvania consumption.
The grand opening of the Taproom on February 3, 2011, allowed brewmaster Matt Keasey to expand beyond any stylistic limitations. A glass-fronted alehouse with ultra-mod orange and black interior, the midsize open-spaced room featured a U-shaped bar (with 3 TV’s), sidling wood-furnished tables, and exposed ductwork. Local patrons have taken advantage of the maroon mug club.
On this sizzling hot Thursday, Van Halen’s “Panama” blares from the speakers as I ingest seven pleasing concoctions that go just past conventional barriers. But before testing the outer limits, I sampled above-mentioned mainstream lager-like mainstay, 7 Gates Pale Ale, a crystal-malted dry body with mildewed orange astringency, lemon mold souring, root vegetable slipstream, and wet cardboard bottom.
Nearly as mainstream accessible but way better, Goofy Foot Summer Wheat retained a moderate fresh-watered citric dalliance and floral-spiced wisp.
Next up, two Belgian-inspired beers showed off Keasey’s broad range. Diabolical Dr. Wit ceded a curious cologne entry enjoining evergreen overtones, herbal rosemary-thyme intensity, floral lavender-lotus-hibiscus accents, and blood orange-peeled kaffir-limed acidity atop sugary maple.
Robot Bastard Belgian IPA spread buttery banana, nectarine, cantaloupe, and pineapple tropicalia over pumpkin-glazed chamomile tea nuances.
Staying on the fruity side, persuasive Mango IPA contrasted cotton-candied mango sweetness against modest grapefruit-peeled bittering, picking up ancillary orange, apricot, and peach enticements.
Mouth-puckering tropical alternative, Two Dudes Wet Paint Guava Ale brought dry lemon-pitted bittering to soft-spiced guava tartness, rotted orange sourness, and subtle perfume notions.
To finalize this eye-opening session, there were two nutty alternative elixirs. Perfectly descriptive Peanut Butter & Jelly maintained a certain jellybean likeness, layering chocolate-y peanut-shelled whimsicality with grape jam, strawberry, and boysenberry illusions.
For dessert, Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout spread creamy peanut-buttered black chocolate richness above vanilla, macadamia, hazelnut and cola undertones.