Eurodiesel Traveler Cola Shandy
The Traveler Beer Co.

 

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

Amber bodied and cola brown colored appearance out of the bottle. Nice clarity to this with a minimal two finger head. Light topped head with a vanilla white like creamy appearance, not unlike a root beer float. Minimal retention but fine bubbled as it dissolves quickly to a simple collar.

Ok it smells like cola. That's about it, no hinting lemon or beer like character. I understand that this is what it is supposed to be but even other made up and commercial diesels I have had sort of resemble a little bit of beer character. Can't fault this though but I was expecting more variety, and at least isn't horrifically sweet smelling. Slightly above average, with maybe a faint hint of clove heat.

Palate certainly brings quite a twist (no pun intended). Decent bodied malt depth, with some very faint cola tiny carbonation mouthplay that provides a little cut through the thickness without getting overly watery or distracting. Cola nut flavors in mid palate, even a slight peppery like kick in the front tongue, but stays away from hard sugars and goes more towards light molasses and sweet brown spices. Finishes slightly lemony as well with a solid backbone.

Starts off kind of like an anticipated bust but actually manages quite well in the end. Certainly more enjoyable than all those hard root beers of late from the few that I've had.