Best Life
Woodland Empire Ale Craft

i get that everyone is making these now, craft beer needs a response to white claw after all, but if you are a white claw drinker now, its unlikely something like this is going to bring you back to beer. the health argument be damned, its a different conversation now. it makes sense that more and more brewers are trying these, and this one has better health stats than a michelob ultra which is cool, but its pretty harsh. looks like beer diluted with water, yellowish even greenish, thin, but with a decent head and some retention from the tap over at their brewery. the aroma is better than the taste, but it too is all hops, almost no grain appreciable here at all, and some lime and dank notes to the hops, agreeable sure, but not without any other flavor context, invisible fermentation profile and no grain to balance makes even a little bit of bitterness seem harsh and out of place, even absurdly so in here, and while it starts out alright, it lingers on the tongue way too long for something thats supposed to be refreshing, and it gets harsher on the hops as it warms too. this is so modern and so appealing in concept, but it only works for about half a glass, and it becomes unbalanced and weird. hard to get it right i know, and i applaud people trying to get seltzer folks back on beer, but i cant imagine this is the product to do it. hopefully its still evolving...