99¢ Tea
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

Who doesn't like 99 cent tea, especially if it's a jug or bottle of Arizona (also brewed in Brooklyn!) after a long night out during the heat of summer? I do and almost expected this beer to taste like that but instead, this was just odd and nothing like it's moniker. Yeah, it an Other Half beer so you won't be pouring it down the drain or wondering why you wasted your money but if you're looking for something full of tea leaves and high fructose corn syrup, this won't satisfy your desires!

This had a relatively typical golden hue to it with a bit of dark sediment floating at the bottom of it. Not a lot of head topped it off as there was enough dark sediment that ended up settling at the bottom of the liquid. Dank hops, spicy tea, booze, and deep pine were in the nose as the taste was just as heavy and outdoorsy as the aroma led me to believe. Some passion fruit, putrid tropical notes, and murky, swampy forest came into the fray on the palate as this was quite turbid, oddly spicy, and full of exotic notes. Subtly slick and oddly reminiscent of a dark tea, this had a lot going on at once although everything didn't quite mesh that well together...

There wasn't a ton of booze here but this felt stronger than it was in actuality. Canned on 4/21/19 with "TOTALLY TEABULAR" written underneath that, this was a beer that wished to be tea, was a beer in actuality, and ended up being something in between to an odd extent. No, this wasn't artificial in feel but it was quite heavy and something that I had to have sip by sip. One of Other Half's bigger oddities, I'm glad I gave it a go but would have a hard time cracking another can of this open!

 

 

L - 1.5 finger dense white head atop a murky orange body.

S - orange, grapefruit, pine, cotton candy, melon, herb.

T - sweet melon and orange to start. Grapefruit, pine, dank, cotton candy, sour lime. Low bitterness. Moderate sweetness. Low booziness.

F - medium-full body with appropriate carb.

O - thankfully does not taste like tea.

 

That’s some weird shit. I never drank 99 cent tea so I can’t really compare but this one is odd, not one of my favorites from other half. Kind of harsh, bitter, alcohol perceptible (drinks bigger than it is); dank but not in a pleasant way. Wouldn’t want too many of these, just an oddball funky ass flavor profile. Still
Better than 90% of the shelfie IPAs I come across.

Embraces its oddities. Not for me though, I think.