Tangerine Dream Ale
4 Mile Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Crystal orange almost clear, nice carbonation and head is very active and bubbly, dissipation is quick, very small patches of lace with a small ring on the surface are left.

Aromatics: Bright citrus, smells like sunshine in a glass. I'd say it's a tangy as opposed to a tart/sour or sweet smell. The tangerine is rather subdued but does take up the nose first. Following that I also get light scents of wheat and very subtle sweet caramel maltiness and a touch of floral that kind of weaves throughout.

Taste: It has a super crisp zest - like a fusion of an orange and yellow grapefruit. The earthy hops pick it up in the middle and a light fresh bread dough lingers at the end.

Feel: The carbonation does settle over time, but retains just enough bubble to tickle the palate, the liquid itself is very crisp and clean a lightended middleweight, finishing fairly dry with a bit of bitter sitting in the middle of the tongue just as a reminder that you'd like to have another sip.

Overall: Wonderfully crisp and refreshing. Looks great in the sunshine of a 30°C day, and feels so good going down. I love the lightness of the tangerine - it supports the ale very nicely without being overbearing. This is a must for any summer patio lounge session.

Pairing: Though 4Mile suggests Butter Chicken and Coconut Cream Pie (or trailer park mud wrestling)... I enjoyed mine in the hot summer sun just snacking on freshly smoked almonds seasoned with a grind of pink Himalayan salt and a combination of dried jalapeno, scotch bonnet/habanero, and chipotle peppers.

 

 

650ml bomber poured into tulip 23/6/16

A clear copper looks a little still but pumps out a two finger foam that leaves no lace

S grapefruit and tangerine, orange creamsicle, and Orange Crush pop, some sweet grains round things, smells kinda fake

T not as much fake fruit and a little more cereals, lots of orange rind

M light bodied, fluffs up and flattens out, slick inside, with citrus peel lingering

O OK beer but the smell and taste seems a little synthetic like the the fruit flavor comes from a lab rather then plant

Easy enough to drink I guess, I could see the masses drinking plenty of this on a hot patio but I doubt I'd bother again

 

 

 

Strange. Good idea, but strange execution. The base is a wheat beer, but you'd hardly be able to tell, because the yeast inserts itself and really dominates the proceedings. And it's a weird yeast--very . . . earthy, musty, dough-y, lending a very "English" character to this beer, which I wasn't expecting.

The initial tangerine "kick" at the beginning of the taste is nice, but then it gets a bit heavy.

Serving: 650 mL bottle poured into a small tasting glass.

Appearance: Nearly clear, bright orange gold. Spare head of white bubbles leaves spotty lace.

Smell: Perfumed orange citrus - almost Fanta - hits the nose first, followed by very light caramel malt and wheat.

Taste: Orange citrus follows from the nose, more Creamsicle than soda. Some wheat, caramel malt and faintly earthy hop bitterness follow in the close.

Mouthfeel: Light body and carbonation, slight stickiness; not quite crisp enough to carry the citrus.

Overall: Tending towards shandy territory; bright tangerine citrus overpowers an unassuming base beer.

Appearance - Pours a medium amber with a finger width of bubbly white head.

Smell - A big hit of tangerines/citrus, bready malts, touch of wheat, and earthy hops. Hint of orange creamsicle aroma.

Taste - Tangy tangerine sweetness and flavours up front, followed by bready malts, earthy hops, and wheat. Again, the familiarity of orange creamsicle is coming back to me. Some lingering bitterness in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes a little dry with lingering tartness from the tangerine and hop bitterness.

Overall - A pleasant, enjoyable brew that delivers on the tangerine front in full force. A sessionable ale for the summer.

650ml bottle - a small annoyance, but this brewery's presence here should be changed to '4 Mile' (as displayed on their labels), which would precipitate a much more pleasant search experience, IMHO.

This beer pours a sightly hazy, medium bronzed amber colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly off-white head, which leaves a few layers of descending cloud-form lace around the glass as it quickly recedes.

It smells of sugary sweet orange and red grapefruit, some tangerine, I presume, lightly bready pale malt, a twinge of earthy yeast, and very little in the bittering offset department, hop or otherwise. The taste is bready and doughy pale and caramel malt, still prominent mixed citrus juice notes, a weak flintiness, and more very tame earthy, leafy, and weedy hop bitters.

The carbonation is fairly adequate in its supportive and sometimes genial frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, nothing really getting in the way of our happiness here. It finishes well off-dry, the slowly burgeoning caramel malt sidling up to the lingering citrus fruitiness like they should both just get a damned room.

Overall, an agreeably fruited-up pale ale (I think), as the purported tangerine comes very close to putting me in a living reflection from a dream (cheers, Zep!). Easy to drink, and a stellar summertime patio quaffer, if I ever saw one!