G6
Transmitter Brewing

Bottle from the brewery in Brooklyn during the 2020 COVID pause. Pours an opaque light amber with a flash of white head, smell is rice wine vinegar, hints of lime and a botanical/green peppercorn spiciness, taste follows the nose with sweet rice vinegar, lime zest, lime flesh, and warming booze, feel is light bodied, acidic, and low carbonation. A beautiful interesting beer, but I wanted more juniper and bitterness from the gin barrels and lower acidity.

 

Basically a belgian gin and tonic

 

 

CSB only release

L: Pours a very clear light gold with a quickly dissipating head. Lively carbonation.

S: Really powerful notes of freshly grated lime zest with sweet Meyer lemons. There’s definitely an herbaceous character with very mild juniper notes. Dry, with fruity yet clean yeast presence.

T: Much stronger gin character than on the nose. Strong herbaceous flavors without the astringency that sometimes come with them. Semidry, with a bit of light honey-like malt and a relatively clean and tame farmhouse yeast. A bit of toasted oak notes with vanilla. Fruity short-lived finish with gin-like bitterness, juniper oil and mild citrus.

F: Light to medium bodied with medium-plus carbonation.

Thoughts: One of Transmitter’s most ambitious ales to date. Not the most enjoyable however — it’s dryness and fleeting finish make it drinkable, but the strong gin character overtook this beer without some sort of malt character, tartness or fruitiness to round it out. On the whole, it’s not the most pleasant beer — I still think the premise of this beer is a viable concept, but they’re really going to have to tweak their approach to make this one work.