I
decided to see if it was a twist off. Determined it wasn’t after
shredding my finger. It poured ruby red, with medium to low head
retention and barely any lacing. Abv was 9.5% and the label
description read “Wheat ale brewed with the juice of merlot
grapes.” My interpretation of the taste was, how do I put this?
Familiar, yet different with a slight hint of feet. I didn’t want
to call it a wine, and I sure as hell didn’t want to call it a
beer. All I could think about while drinking this "beverage"
was Paul Giamati in "Sideways" - I
ain't drinkin no fucken Merlot.
Terrible grammar aside, this beer is a lot like that movie: appealing
to a very specific demographic and I kind of regretted getting
involved with it about halfway into the endeavor.
It
was fizzy as all fancy and the body was thin so my first pour was
about 1/3 beer to 2/3 foam. Foam tasted fruity and dully tart. I
don't know anything about wine, but I've had some reds with real big
ass balls. Much was left to be desired in the balls department. The
familiar flavor reminded me of the early days of beer drinking when
you'd take whatever beer you could get (usually a fizzy yellow
lager). This beer had more balls than mass produced beer, but still
couldn't escape that shadow to me. I refused to do any additional
pairing research, but I could tell the Chinese, farm raised salmon
neither enhanced nor degraded the beverage. Maybe brought out the
booze a little bit, but I didn't really savor anything since the beer
tasted like a tart stale lawnmower beer to begin with.
Halfway
into the Punisher, dinner is long gone and my head is swimming harder
than Michael Phelps towards a bong and Subway sandwich. I’m not NOT
enjoying myself, and I still hadn't had an adverse reaction to a
single swig, but then I burped and the weird grape tartness billowed
up into the back of my throat. I don't even have the words or
capacity to describe it at this point, but it was bad, albeit less
noticeable as the glass gets more empty and my head gets swimmier.
The
label claimed the flavors of black cherries and raspberries resided
inside the bottle like a fruity little genie, all with a smooth
finish. I agree with smooth finish but the flavor profile I'm picking
up with 1/4 of the punisher left to go is tart toe jam. It's funky.
Maybe I got a bad bottle, but I don't really think so. The next
morning, I had mild headache not too dissimilar from a night of
mixing my alcohol foods groups (e.g. mixing it up with wine and
beer). However, that funky feeling passed on quickly and I was back
on the wagon in no time, ironically enough, while taking a tour of
the Coors facility in Golden, CO.
I'm
going to say something that may catch a lot of shit from the craft
beer evangelist crowd, but I've always respected Blue Moon products.
It’s a division of a macro that kept craft intentions in a way, and
managed to succeed in a time when their corporate overlords wanted to
shut their department down. That said, this beverage is an experiment
I think best left in the lab. The flavors in this beverage just don’t
mesh in a positive way. Maybe someone else can do it right and create
an amazing experience (I think Dogfish Head made something similar)
but for now, it’s a thought that doesn't excite me.
1 comment:
Rob & Sam,
I have not had this one, but I had a few other of their beers. I think I made it through one bottle. I'll have to look at my notes and find out which one, but the other I dumped. Funny, because even though they were different beers, I had the same experience on that one lol
Anyway, cheers! I love hearing about these ones. I try them myself usually. I just haven't seen this one.
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