Trademark Santa Fe offering renders dark chocolate roast, caramel coffee cache and sour-creamed lactose milking. Beneath, chocolate-caked cocoa, pecan, toffee and molasses illusions crowd earthen hop bottom.
PINE ISLAND BIG BROWN
On tap at Craft House, worthy Imperial Brown Ale (with well hidden 10.8% ABV) contrasts glazed pecan and hazelnut sweetness against dry hop-roasted walnut bittering. Dark chocolate respite and distant raisin-fig conflux subsumed by nuttier overtones.
ALESMITH OLD NUMBSKULL BARLEYWINE
Resounding 11% ABV full body drapes piney floral-fruited IPA hop resilience atop fudgy cookie dough malts and sweet vanilla-creamed toffee sugaring. Assertive oak-charred hop bittering confronts bruised orange succulence as well as honey-glazed lemon, orange, peach, pineapple and black cherry tang. Light sherry, bourbon, brandy and Scotch illusions scurry below.
DOGFISH HEAD BEER TO DRINK MUSIC TO TRIPEL
Multi-dimensional tripel elevates stylish coriander-spiced citric fruiting and herbal yeast rusticity with sweet orange-peeled green cardamom and peppercorn adjuncts as well as crystal-malted vanilla creaming, but desiccated by fusel alcohol acridity. Crisply clean floral fruited arrangement delivers lemon meringue, orange marmalade, banana, and mango niceties to white-peppered honeysuckle, heather, lavender, daisy, sunflower and chrysanthemum bouquet.
GRIMM TESSERACT
Sunshiny soft-toned IPA benefits from stimulating stylistic approachability, sweetening vibrant floral-pined Mosaic/Citra hop tropicalia with mellow sugar-spiced honey malt creaming. Sharp yellow grapefruit pith lead-in picks up sweet orange peel zest as well as juicy mango, peach, pineapple, guava, papaya, honeydew and tangerine tang, gaining ‘dank spruce’ tones at its lustrous floral fruited finish. An absolute gem.
PEEKSKILL HIGHER STANDARD TRIPLE IPA
On tap at Ambulance, gleaming ‘hopped-up’ version of Eastern Standard IPA packs juicily fruited 9.3% ABV wallop as tropical cocktail sweetness and honeyed crystal malts battle back dank resinous pine bittering. Orange marmalade, lemon meringue, pineapple, grapefruit, mango and papaya illusions brighten the surface alongside the wafting floral bouquet.
CHATHAM FARMER’S DAUGHTER RED RYE IPA
On tap at Craft House, sharp citrus hop bittering outdoes advertised rye-spiced malting as floral-perfumed sweetness contrasts piney bark-dried astringency, mild plastique groat and yellow grapefruit tang.
FLYING DOG ELLA IMPERIAL IPA
Light pilsner-related floral-fruited Australian hop provides easygoing lemon-candied peach and plum tones above buttery rye-spiced malting to its gentle biscuit spine. Wispy phenol alcohol astringency (8% ABV) dots delicate fruited plain.
FLYING DOG MINT JULEP ALE
Uncertain mint-leafed blonde ale arrives just in time for 2016 Kentucky Derby. “Luscious” mint spicing gets lost alongside wavering honeysuckle-draped bourbon licks. Spearmint-candied freshness recedes as subtle nectar, banana and melon sweetness weakens below lemon-dropped herbal tea midst. Latent pine nut, fern and peppermint nuances wisp by dissolved mint-sugared cocktail finish.
SIERRA NEVADA BEER CAMP TROPICAL IPA
Sweet orange-candied sugaring, tangy mango-papaya-peach-nectarine tropicalia and wispy floral wafts square off against sharp orange-peeled bittering and piney hop resin. Walks the line between glossily slick and mustily dry.
OMMEGANG GAME OF THRONES SEVEN KINGDOMS HOPPY WHEAT ALE
Persuasively combining Belgian-styled witbier with hoppy American pale ale and prominent herbaceous overtones, well-balanced moderation deserves exalted status. Black-peppered thyme, rosemary, sage and fern herbage rumbles across lemon-seeded bittering and zesty mandarin orange tang above wheat-sugared oats spine. Lightly lingering resinous hop bite reinforces floral-bound citrus nature and raw-honeyed black tea respite.
NEW BELGIUM HOPPY BLONDE
Thin blonde goes down easy as mild grassy hop bittering and light pine prickle contrast subtle grapefruit-orange-pineapple-mango-tangerine tang and zesty lemon splurge. Dank raw-grained rye malting settles below the surface.
