Nines Are Wild
Rhinegeist Brewery

 

In what's a remarkable update from the "India Pale Lager", Rhinegeist is going wild for their ninth anniversary and putting a new spin on an old favorite.

Nines Are Wild kicks off with a shiny chrome brightness underneath an ivory capped foam. A hoppy scent of citrus, tropical, orchard and stone fruit mingles with caramelized sweet scents for a hint of savoriness. Sweet once on the tongue, the early taste is mildly caramelized with honey, bread crust and candied nuttiness.

Turning decidedly hoppy on the middle palate, the malts part to allow for a full display of red grapefruit, orange peel, red apple, pineapple and mango leap right out ahead of a deeper taste of apricot, cranberry and cantaloup. Turning smoothly bitter, the late taste shines on the more herbal aspects of hops with soft resins of pine, citrus peel and fresh grass clippings.

Medium bodied and trending dry and lighter, the beer's smooth "cold brewed" character allows for the drier and smoother taste of lager to come along with the bitterness, fruitiness and floral character of full-blown IPA. Finishing smoothy bitter once again, the beer lingers long and lean with herb, fruit peels and grassy spices.

Clear copper in color similar to an apple juice. Little head created with some lacing. Nose is piney. Taste was bitter like resin and ABV is somewhat obvious, although not overpowering.