I’ve a backlog of beers to review – not a bad thing, I’ll admit, but one that occasionally requires an unconventional approach. As a long-time admirer of Jim Anderson’s “back in the day” haiku beer reviews, I thought it might be interesting to see how brief I could be while still expressing the essential characters of four very different, but similarly styled beers. Hence the following…
(Beers listed in order of alcohol content. New Glarus alcohol content based upon what is listed at beeradvocate.com and ratebeer.com, and really New Glarus, why not list the strength of your beers?)
New Glarus Hearty Hop (6.1% abv; USA): A meticulously crafted IPA, expressive rather than aggressive, and so quite quaffable. Session beers CAN be over 4%!
De Molen Vuur & Vlam (6.2%; Netherlands): When the foam finally subsides, canned peaches and apricots give way to grapefruit and dry walnut. Lovely segue of flavours.
Cameron’s Rye Pale Ale (6.6%; Canada): Smelling almost like rye bread without the breadiness, the rye notes barely survive an onslaught of peppery, citrus peel hoppiness.
Yeastie Boys Digital IPA (7%; New Zealand): NZ hops are pineappley in nose and flavour, from tropical fruitiness to back end bitterness. Harmony in a digital age.
>Session beers CAN be over 4%!
Simply NOT true, and very unhelpful muddying of the water.
Although I reserve all rights to continue to object to the term “session” in general, I applaud your brazen tossing of a squib into the crowd of session fanatics.
In the praise of beer
A great wind blows from the North
He who remembers