Bottled by Shipyard for Virgin Islands-based St. John’s Brewery, refreshing tropical-fruited pale ale punctuates ripe mango sweetness with brisk lemon-hopped papaya, passion fruit and pineapple delectation. Peach-lacquered maraschino cherry, strawberry, blueberry, and tangerine illusions come and go above honeyed wheat spine. Unfortunately, quality has gone down. Phenol-hopped fizzing and perfumed tongue overwhelm soapy watermelon and mango illusions of light summery dessert treat.

Worthy ‘strangely refreshing’ fruit ale perfect as easy-drinking light-bodied poolside fodder. Juicy Jolly Rancher watermelon theme maintains sweet thrust above dainty hop-fizzed strawberry Seltzer spritz to cereal-sugared wheat-honeyed spine. Tangible lemonade tartness works its way into artificial melon flavoring. Serve to anyone with a sweet tooth.

On tap, soapy washed-out yellow-cleared fruit ale lacks luster. Brazilian acai berries, a dietary antioxidant, never bolsters pallid softie. Fizzy dry-hopped raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, and cherry souring mires subsidiary lemon-limed green apple, Granny Smith apple, and white peach tartness. Dull white-breaded spine of arid light body only makes things worse.

Updated, downgraded, unbalanced version of former ‘Laughing Buddha’ labeled fruit beer (with sinewy yeast sediment) lacks proper mango influence to fragile pale wheat spine. Leathery white grape acridity, comparable to Belgian gueuze, encumbers lemon-soured mango tartness and unripe peach nullity that becomes overbearingly mouth-puckering in its acidic dryness. Serve with barbecue steak or pork to bring out further illusions.

Unique ale blends cranberry juice with maple richness in an obtuse manner. Obtrusive cranberry souring hits initially, getting derailed by fizzy sparkle. Not nearly as well crafted as expected, but maple finish provides sufficient appeal.

Beautifully mellow pinkish white-headed golden dry body nicely constricts black currant bitterness succinctly soaked up by cranberry apple tartness, unripe peach serenity, and citric rosebud tinge. Honey wheat backdrop flawlessly underscores oncoming bittersweet blueberry finish further soured by ester-y champagne tingle.

Peculiar lemony apricot musk rises out of corky floral auspices as nearly sickeningly sweet malt sugaring stirs carbolic soda flow. Salient mango-papaya-honeydew tropicalia gains hold above biscuit-y wheat base of tangy fruited golden dessert treat. Call it a peach lambic and you’d be closer.

Serene maize-hazed wheat ale with tart cranberry juicing finds bittersweet blueberry sanctuary to catapult lemony seltzer-like fizz and spiced apple-peach-tangerine tang. Soft melon essence informs easy flowing finish where slight acidity beckons.

In bottle, juicy tangerine tang exposes sweet ‘n sour expanse over subtle white wheat base as minor hop astringency looms. On tap, slim orange wedge perks up frontal tangerine tang, ancillary candied orange tartness and ripe apricot undertones. Yummy Creamsickle splurge sweetens citric adjuncts to mild wheat spine.

On tap at Poughkeepsie hotspot, Half Time, bland pink magenta fruit ale does disservice to Beat poet Jack Kerouac’s legend. Narrow sugar ‘beet’ tweak settles under completely subdued cherry-cranberry tartness and prickly hop-fizzed nothingness. Wispy watermelon sweetness barely detected above bread-y bottom.

Reddish brown-hued  ale with solid-bodied grain-deepened berry persistence and bustling carbonation feels processed. Refreshing but not nearly as rich as originally anticipated from pungent fruit whiff. Brewery defunct: 2001.

Sparkly light-bodied magenta-hued black currant-centered ale aged in medieval castle (Kasteel Brewery) comes across shyly dry and bitterly fruited. Fizzy soda flow enlivens raspy raspberry-boysenberry-elderberry tang, but citric nuance stays distant and faint dry cherry finish hinges on astringency.