Supremely complex Brooklyn porter brewed with local Gorilla Coffee Ethiopian Yergachette blend second only in exultation to Red Hook Black Hook Double Black Stout (featuring Starbuck’s coffee). Luxurious fresh-roasted coffee bittering perfectly contrasts sweet anise goo, chewy molasses sweetness, and baker’s chocolate resin. Milky cappuccino-espresso emboldens hop-charred coffee ground finish as tertiary smoked cedar, burnt caramel, and hazelnut reinforce rich mocha backbone.
SIXPOINT ENCORE BELGIAN STYLE DUBBEL
Luscious chestnut-hued dessert ale delights palate as sugarplum sweetness and bruised cherry-banana souring merge above mellifluous chewy molasses malting. Vanilla, honey nut, and licorice consume bourbon-tinged backend sufficiently.
SIXPOINT DIESEL STOUT
Chewy full-bodied brown-toned stout lures black coffee sourness and chafed espresso burn to dry roasted nuttiness. Black licorice waver coats tongue. Below the surface, vanilla bean, powdered chocolate, and charcoal notes inform piney hop bottom.
SIXPOINT BENGALI TIGER INDIA PALE ALE
Quaffed on tap at lower Manhattan’s d.b.a., hand-pulled rust-glowed cask conditioned smoothie offers piney yellow-fruited frontage assuaging floral daisy-rosebud waft and sweet spruce reminder. Soft Cascade-hopped ripple conveys dewy melon-mango-kiwi-papaya-pineapple-nectarine tang and secondary grapefruit acidity. Lovely lemon meringue fluff consumes zesty fruited finish.
(APEX) SIR WALTER RALEIGH LAGER
Muted dry Scotch opening and toasted hop crisping encounter flimsy herbal tea nuance before soapy metallic finish ruins delicate grain foundation. Brewery defunct: 2006.
SINGHA LAGER
Lean light-bodied pale-hued caramel-malted lager with crisp hop bite, sharp carbolic fizz, and sour citric undertones decorating faint burgundy finish. Though toasted grain finish is fleeting, Singha’s still more assertive than most Asian pilsner-lagers.
SINEBRYCHOFF PORTER
Black as Texas gold, here’s a fab Finnish porter in a cozy 11-ounce bottle contrasting rich coffee bean affluence, sharp cola nuttiness and creamy sweet-sour chocolate milking against massive oily-hopped Blackstrap molasses bittering. Fudgy burnt caramel snip and recessive anise blot speckle ancillary ashen cedar char. Acidic port notes sneak by mossy bottom. Label accurately insists it’s ‘high gravity, bottle conditioned, strong, aging like fine wine.’ But its soft-tongued effervescence makes it go down easy. Fully formed though a bit abstruse and in need of better flavor specificity.
SIMPATICO PREMIUM AMBER LAGER
Faded butterscotch-caramel twist given peppy hop thrust. Distant fruitiness juxtaposes sour chocolate-malted flaked oats. Reminiscent of a darker Modelo Negra.
(CHERRYLAND) SILVER RAIL LAGER
Embedded grain primacy heightens checkered Scotch malt mesh. Thicker head and fuller body would benefit overall durability of mere session beer.
SILETZ WOOLY BULLY LAGER
Closer to an expressive pale ale than an obvious lager, rusty nickel hued nomad brings feisty bruised orange sourness, lemony white peach tagline and dry cork waft to vinous grape-draped cherry pucker. Thick malt lacquering consumes floral-hopped fruit finish as recessed smoky wood tempest builds strength. Brewed by Calapooia Brewery after 2008.
SILETZ SPRUCE ALE
Herbaceous version of Siletz Wooly Bully has interesting rust-glowed hue and tidy spruce-tipped sprinkling. Remedial orange-soured eucalyptus-menthol freshness gains force as spruce-y sweetness resonates, snatching hints of tangerine and peach along the way.
SILETZ PADDLE ME INDIA PALE ALE
Amber golden hue resembles setting sun as a burst of lemony orange bitterness drives back tangy peach-y keen sweetness. Roasted barley foundation falters before herbal-currant trifle brings assurance.