Tag Archives: spice ale

BREWDOG DOGMA

Wavering spiced ale may boast kola nut, poppy seed, and guarana herbage, but these under-whelming elements barely register. Instead, brown-sugared chocolate malting, red grapefruit tang, orange-tangerine juicing, and floral hop spicing integrate with tertiary tea, hemp, and pine forest illusions. Barley-roasted heather honey sweetness validates citric malting. Nowhere near as innovative and enigmatic as label claims.

DOGFISH HEAD CHATEAU JIAHU

Sinewy yeast clouds coppery honeysuckle-glazed eccentricity. Floral chrysanthemum-lavender embrace gathers up-front Sangria, Muscat, and pinot grape esters, beckoning peach-tangerine ripeness and surreptitious lemon-limed orange-grapefruit smattering. Subsequent peppery hop prickle absorbs vinous white wine acidity, obscure herbaceous tuck, and latent gin-like juniper nip.

FLEURETTE GIOIA DI VIVERE ALE

Like a corky Belgian cuvee or gueuze spreading unripe green grape pucker and Granny Smith apple sourness atop cloudy yeast sediment, this abstruse pinkish-highlighted amber golden aperitif gains many offbeat illusions. But advertised floral promise of rose, violet, and elderberry nuances never conquer lemon-dried mandarin orange burst or fungus-like olfactory dankness (though lavender and lilac hints persist). Black pepper spicing is inconspicuous.

TWO BROTHERS AVALON SPICED ALE

Superfine winter warmer celebrates holiday season with endless character. Served best cold, local apple cider provides bittersweet template. Loud cinnamon-nutmeg-clove spices tingle tongue as sweet candied apple thrust brightens red cherry-cranberry souring. Sugar plum, fig, and date engage baked apple backdrop. When served warm, acidic alcohol intensity and funky apple liqueur tartness overwhelm dissipating cinnamon-toasted spicing dramatically.