Glorious tropical-fruited double-hopped copper-hazed India Pale Ale stays sweeter than bitterer. Creamy butter-scotched caramel-toasted malts bed candi-sugared apple-juiced pear, peach, tangerine, pineapple, cantaloupe, melon, and orange marmalade panoply contrasting pine-resinous grapefruit-peeled orange-oiled juniper bittering. Mild herbal whim tucked inside floral hop spicing atop wood-lacquered pliancy. Fruity bubblegum reminder clinches the deal. On tap, beechnut-spruced sweetness augments apple-candied orange-pulped tang, tropical pineapple-kiwi thrust, and bubblegum niche countering zesty grapefruit rind bittering to piney-hopped bottom.
AECHT SCHLENKERLA EICHE DOPPELBOCK
Famed German smoked beer makers come through again with unexpectedly moderate-bodied double bock styling. Crisply clean oak-smoked peat malting leads the way for dry Band-aid-wafted amber-darkened rauchbier. Smoked salami, bacon fat, burnt hickory, and nutmeat speckle recessive lemon-oiled orange-fig tartness. An acquired taste worth discovering.
AYINGER WEIZEN-BOCK
Affirmative medium-bodied winter seasonal bock brings honeyed yellow-fruited nature and caramel-crystal malting to casual herbaceous whim. Vanilla-sweetened banana-clove entry receives uppity lemon tartness and white-peppered menthol-eucalyptus-ginger freshness. Dry banana leaf illusion, musty barnyard grassing, and strangely irrelevant compost waft affect sugared fig-date recess and tertiary orange-apple-pear-pineapple fruiting. Here’s to another well-defined, interestingly enjoyable Ayinger brew.
(BIG CITY) JAMAICA STOUT
Serviceable brown-bodied mocha stout pushes roasted coffee above sticky sugar-burnt molasses creaminess and black chocolate milking. Leathery wood-seared astringency affects tertiary rum-caked black cherry, prune, and raisin illusions.
BROOKLYN CUVEE NOIRE
Rewarding dark Belgian-styled ale with dry-fruited spicing and smoked cocoa malting blitzing dramatic rum-sugared bourbon, burgundy, and Merlot wining. Subsequent earthen grape-stemmed fig-date-prune souring receives cocoa-powdered black chocolate reverberation buttressing mild orange peel bittering.
J.W. DUNDEE KOLSCH-STYLE ALE
Honeyed grain toasting and candied citrus dollop top phenol-hopped sharpness and fresh-watered pleasantry. Mild butterscotch swoop and tart lemon custard snoop drape minor pineapple-peach tease. Sour-doughed white-breaded spine reminiscent of sweet moderate-bodied Munich pilsner.
HARPOON GRATEFUL HARVEST CRANBERRY ALE
Mildly astringent compost-wafted Thanksgiving-styled fruit ale lacks distinct character profile. Meek cranberry tartness, ester-y grape souring, and residual Vienna malt sugaring lost to phenol hop coarsening. Red cherry, raspberry and strawberry sweetness found in deep recess of easygoing moderate-bodied auburn ale. White-breaded spine falters badly.
LANDMARK VANILLA BEAN BROWN ALE
Bereft English-styled brown ale contract brewed by Buffalo’s Flying Bison. Advertised Madagascar vanilla bean bittering hidden beneath prominent hazelnut coffee theme. Unpleasant dirty earthiness trails maple-sapped molasses influence and minor toasted nuttiness. A little thin and fragile compared to larger hop-roasted chocolate-doused ‘Brownies.’
LVIVSKE 1715 PREMIUM LAGER
Vile pale-toned medium-bodied Ukrainian contrasts cloy corn-sugared malting against grassy hop astringency and cheap maize-oiled hindrance. Rotted citric nuance sneaks through backdoor.
NERREBROS JULEBRYG
Blunt Danish-styled Christmas-seasoned spice ale with viscous rust hue and creamy texture in stark contrast to blanched phenol flavor profile. Coarse prune-fig souring, dry burgundy whir, and green raisin snip get metallic. Sooty wood-smoked dampness undoes any traditional cinnamon-nutmeg spicing.
NEW HOLLAND HOPIVORE MICHIGAN WET-HOPPED HARVEST ALE
Gruff wet-hopped autumnal ale stylistically approaches proper English Extra Bitter. Leafy hop resin drips into burnt-toasted mineral-grained rye-dried earthen fungi. Sugary cocoa sweetness, tea-like bittering and slack citric pinch lost in sea of dank-watered swill.
NOGNE O PECULIAR YULE – 2010
Obtuse 2010 Christmas seasonal with off-putting shaving cream waft and ruddy brownish hue lacks traditional sugar spicing and boozy warmth. Herbal spearmint-rosemary-thyme quip negates ginger-cinnamon-nutmeg glance and cocoa-chocolate malting.