So it's not bad enough that I have serious troubles pinpointing what specific ingredients or processes cause me to feel like death after drinking, I need to complicate things by challenging my palate and trying to guess just what exactly it is that I'm drinking in the first place. In the coming weeks, I will be reviewing beers without and pretenses or preconceptions or pre...uhh...scriptions? After spending years down the craft beer hole, I'm testing not only my palate, but my sanity in trying to decipher what I'm drinking and where it was brewed. Master Cicerones around the world, watch out...It's my first in a 9-part series of "Drinking Beers Blind".
Beer #1 - 500ml bottle. Pliny shaped. Color is straw yellow with a huge fluffy white head. Taste is super crisp, lemony and grassy. Very clean finish and, oh so, very drinkable. Light but full of flavor. I was not expecting this. There's Belgian yeast in here, but its not overpowering. Just keeping it honest. What the hell is this beer? There's a little bit of hop but man is this thing balanced and fresh. I want kegs of this for the summer (or, really anytime of year here in Los Angeles. Shit, it was like 94 back in March).
I could guess a million beers, but none fit the bottle shape and quantity. I'm at a total loss here. This must be something Belgian that I've never heard of. A Trappist ale maybe from one of the monasteries I've never had before?
I hate that I don't even have a guess for my first beer.
Overall - 7/10. Would bang again.
I could guess a million beers, but none fit the bottle shape and quantity. I'm at a total loss here. This must be something Belgian that I've never heard of. A Trappist ale maybe from one of the monasteries I've never had before?
I hate that I don't even have a guess for my first beer.
Overall - 7/10. Would bang again.
Reveal - "Une Annee - Less is More." Da fuk? Never heard of this AT ALL! And I hear about everything. I from California after all!
The ratebeer.com description is thus: "A beer designed to help you beat the heat. So light and refreshing you may not realize when you finished your glass. Brewed with a good amount of wheat and a hint of caramel, hopped with Ahtanum and spiked with orange zest and juice, this one finishes very dry."
Well, I was on point with a beer to beat the heat. And oranges are close to lemons, right? At 4.6% abv, there was little in the way of painful side effects. And the funk to it wasn't so acidic that my stomach tried to escape my body through my chest. I've never heard of this brewery before, but it's on my radar now. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate.
The ratebeer.com description is thus: "A beer designed to help you beat the heat. So light and refreshing you may not realize when you finished your glass. Brewed with a good amount of wheat and a hint of caramel, hopped with Ahtanum and spiked with orange zest and juice, this one finishes very dry."
Well, I was on point with a beer to beat the heat. And oranges are close to lemons, right? At 4.6% abv, there was little in the way of painful side effects. And the funk to it wasn't so acidic that my stomach tried to escape my body through my chest. I've never heard of this brewery before, but it's on my radar now. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate.