No Regratze
To Øl

A: Light lemon and general fruitiness with a light grainy aroma, tart, with a light smokiness.

A: Bright golden color, hazy, with a mostly uniform and slightly rocky white head and light lacing in the glass.

T: Lemony with a light fruitiness, slightly grainy, with a moderate tartness, light smoke and dry finish.

M: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.

O: Solid; the beer has an interesting tart and delicate smoke flavor, reminiscent of a Lichtenhainer, but with less smoke intensity.

330ml bottle - probably my first Polish Grodziskie, so thanks, To Øl! And nice moniker, by the way.

This beer pours a hazy, medium golden yellow colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, rocky, and slightly bubbly bone-white head, which leaves some solid cresting wave lace around the glass as it evenly falls by the wayside.

It smells of meaty, almost phenolic smoke, a hint of unused band-aid, sedated generic citrus rind, some tame lacto, grainy pale and wheaten malt, saltine crackers, and a mild earthy and grassy hop bitterness. The taste is sour stone fruit meets smoked pork, over top of a plain wheaty graininess, further muddled citrus and tropical fruity notes, saline solution, and a still understated green leafy and floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite active in its testy and otherwise structurally sound frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and not all that smooth, not here, not this way. It finishes trending dry, the smokiness starting to waft off, while the tart, lemon-led fruitiness lingers amongst the remains of the salty bread day.

No Regratze comes across like a blend of smoked beer and Berliner Weisse - I'm not sure what the original style entailed, i.e. whether smoke was involved, but this would be a hell of a lot more refreshing sans the Rauchbier leanings. Interesting to try, but I don't think I shall be revisiting this one.