Hinterland - Door County Cherry Wheat. ALSO a summer seasonal apparently! From a small brewpub in Wisconsin.. Sam Cherry Wheat is another of my hidden pleasures so I couldn't pass up this one at 5.4% ABV. An orange/copper pour with hints of a nice red with a solid head. Very muted nose.. I'm getting the wheat notes and a ton of sugary sweetness, bordering on melted rock candy. The taste is extremely disappointing.. poorly carbonated, overpowering lemony wheat profile and the description on the bottle of 'cherry added' is for real. It tastes like someone dumped cherry syrup into the fermentation tank and just hoped for the best... even the tartness seems artificial. Has an aftertaste akin to one of those Mike's or Smirnoff drinks..too sweet, too creamy.. just a let down :-(
This is Double-up Wednesdays..so another from Hinterland - Luna Coffee Stout.. I'm reading between 4.8% and 5.6% ABV depending on the source.. 'with coffee added' After the last Hinterland, somewhat skeptical. An oily-dark pour, but not thick..and no, that's not a bad pour, this is one hella heady brew! The coffee is definitely present in the nose, prominent..a bit of bitter chocolate and dark roasted malts..much more impressive than the cherry. The taste is wholly roasted malts from the get go with a bit more carbonation that I'd like to see in a stout. Bitter dark chocolate comes in as well and it finishes with a sweet, but kinda bitter coffee taste.
*note.. got better and less bitter as it warmed. turned into a great coffee stout!*
Next brewery up.. Left Hand! Left Hand - Stranger American Pale Ale. (go ahead and giggle at the name..if you get it!) 5.0% ABV and 36 IBUs... a nice golden color with no head retention. A super light aroma, some grassy and grapefruit hops with light yeasty, bready malts. A little floral and hints of orange/peach from time to time. Very satisfying body for an APA.. crisp..full. A nice bitter bite to the hops, very grassy and floral actually with faint sour notes. Little hints of orange, lemon, grapefruit with some grassy and faint sweet malts.. watery caramel and cracker malts. A tart, bubbling hoppiness leaves me wanting more of this Stranger!
Finally in the Double-Up two-fer feature.. Left Hand Black Jack Porter.. 6.8% and 35 IBUs. Almost a rich ruby-brown pour.. is it a Left Hand thing to have almost no head retention?? A light espresso, roasted malts and some chocolate aromas with what appears to be some dark cherry and plum notes. The taste is wholly dark roasted malts with some bitter chocolate and black coffee in the background. A surprising bitter hop profile is somewhere in the middle/end.. apparently this is supposed to be a melding of an English and American Porter. That dark cherry and plum aroma is present in the taste, giving it a full body without being heavy and adding a unique sweetness to the taste. Overall a very cool take on a porter!
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