Sergeant Salamander - Vanilla Bean And Cinnamon Syrup
Tired Hands Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at TH

The blood orange/hibiscus Berliner with a spike of cinnamon-vanilla syrup.

Often--and not just at Tired Hands--I've been offered the syrup spike with a Berliner weisse, but I've never accepted. What kind of man would I be to blatantly add this kind of candy to my beer? But after having this one (rinsing and repeating), I now wonder what I've been missing out on all these years. Not to mention that serving Berliners with syrup added is in fact a legitimate and traditional method, which I initially thought strange due to the German Purity Law (though I guess the loophole is that the added ingredient isn't actually brewed in the beer?).

Anyway. The appearance was much like the regular version of the beer: slightly hazy, light red in color, with a fast-fading pink-white head that left no traces behind. A little bit of toasted wheat up front in the aroma, soon easily conquered by a wave of cinnamon and vanilla. For a fleeting moment, the taste was the same as before--toasted wheat, mildly sour, notes of citrus--but the cinnamon and vanilla soon became the dominant factors, turning this into some kind of an ice cream / beer hybrid super fun surprise! Did I feel guilty enjoying this as much as I did? Nope. Light-medium body, slick sugary mouthfeel, too drinkable.