Country Jacket
Country Boy Brewing

 

 

Draft at Bluejacket.

Yellow hazy body with a thin, white head. Aromas of funk, yeast, lemons, grass, stone fruit. A touch of peppery spice with tart apple character emerging in the flavor. Hop presence throughout. Sourness is light to medium with good drinkability. A bright and happy beer. Good stuff.

 

Teaming with the brewers of Blue Jacket, the Country Boys are at their country ways once again. Simply uncapable of leaving well-enough along, the farmhouse foundation is then tinkered with, throwing in copious amounts of crabapples because... why not?

Pale straw in shade and decorated with a faint translucent glow, a quick rise and fall of foam allows a distinct champagne character to take hold. All that bubbly action drives those crabapples right up the nose. Closely behind follow the normal acidity of white grape, lemon, lime and sour orange. Its quick taste of light bread, cracker and grain shows a slender malty hand before the tartness kicks into high gear.

Like drier sparkling white wines and french cider, the dry effervescence enlivens the tartness that's expected of sour apples, but the normal citrus and orchard fruits all play their under-ripened card and then balance with hints of straw, white pepper, and a spiciness of light curry. Trailing hops prove pleasantly grassy and gives a welcome herbal complexity to the finish.

Light and stingingly acidic, the bone-dry ale is effortless and weightless on the palate, even with the fast-fleeting carbonation. Wine and fruit close the session while those persistent crabapples keep panging away on the tongue.