Contee: 3.5 – Along with Schwazbier if we asked brewers to make more of a certain style – it would be Kolsch. We say this to frame the context of this being a poor outing as a great tragedy for us. There is an orange citrus flavor here that overrides so much of the beer you can barely even tell the style, just orange + ale is all you get.
Price Average: $13 for 4-pack
Website: https://www.definitivebrewing.com/
Photo Booth: 5.5 – Grapefruit certainly is the main component here, it pervades the entire beer turning it almost into something more juice than beer. It’s not particularly tart either so that juicy aspect really is why you get this, even if it isn’t a fantastic beer.
Price Average: $3
Website: https://www.artifactbeer.com/
The Mad Elf: 5.5 – Has a bit of an ESB style beer to it, but it’s overall a very unique Christmas style ale – leaning heavily on the cinnamon and clove and other spices. The bit of cherry to this is what makes it a little more than just a pure xmas spice beer – though it still suffers from the fate of really only wanting like 1 of these a season.
Price Average: $18 for 6-pack
Website: https://troegs.com/
Straight To The Noggin: 5.0 – Make no mistake, you know why you bought this beer – or why you would. It’s because the idea of an eggnog beer is quirky enough to try – regardless of what we’ll say. What we say is that it very much feels like a combo of nutmeg, eggnog, and a white ale. What we’ll also say is that while that combo is true – it just feels wrong. Not in the ‘oh chocolate is so bad for I’ll have another piece though’ more in the ‘your brewers were so busy thinking if they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should’ kinda way.
Price Average: $9 for 4-pack
Website: https://shipyard.com/
DDH Light Speed: 6.0 – That bit of citrus really helps a lot here because this is one hoppy bastard. It thankfully leaves with an aftertaste of said orange citrus in your nostrils, but ther overall bitterness from the double dry hopping is a step too far from it being great.
Price Average: $14 for 4-pack cans
Website: https://www.tgbrews.com/
Le Seul XVII: 7.5 – Pineapple and watermelon – well sure, but don’t for a second think this wild ale will be like other beers that state things like pineapple and/or watermelon on the bottle. This thing is bonkers tasting, and sure you certainly get more pineapple like it’s coming out of your ears, but this truly tastes unlike any other ‘fruit + beer’ combo than you’ve likely had, and for those that care for it – a dream.
Price Average: $14
Website: https://www.uneannee.com/
Green Zebra: 6.0 – It’s overall a nice sour and while it’s got some juice, some tart, and overall good flavor with nothing too crazy going on; it lacks a distinctive character to the sour. It tastes like it’s been blended or even watered down a bit too much.
Price Average: $10 for 6-pack cans
Website: https://foundersbrewing.com
Oxbow Harvest: 7.0 – We’re perfectly sure if given the same beer where one is dry-hopped and the other wet you could tell there’s something different about it. As for what exactly that is bringing to this saison though – it’s hard to say. This is mostly because by being an Oxbow saison it’s pretty freaken good, and you’re not sure if that’s typical oxbow character or specifically whatever magic wet-hopping does.
Price Average: $5
Website: https://oxbowbeer.com/
Matsurika Pilsner: 4.0 – So this is a type of pilsner that adds jasmine petals which are called ‘Matsurika’ in Japan (hence the name). However, if you try this it feels less like a Czech pils, and oddly more like a south american lager? It’s overall not the best pils so regardless of where or what it feels like – pass.
Price Average: $7 draft
Website: https://www.japascervejaria.com/
Disconnected: 7.5 – While it certainly leans more on the juice side of beer, there’s no denying the balance of citrus and hops here with a bit of tang and bitters is just right. It’s tropical, it’s fruity, and it’s fucken phenomenal. Out of an understanding with our IPA bias, we tend to not post/write about them here – but this is fan-tastic.
Price Average: $9 draft
Website: https://www.discordbeer.com/