Summer Ale
Tugboat Brewing Company

I've had some interesting beers at Tugboat, but I don't think I've ever really had a good one. Their Summer Ale has some decent qualities, but it ends up a victim of the bizarre Tugboat "infected" taste that is problematic in all the beers I've tried there. It pours innocently enough, in an averagely appealing gold, with a very nice head and excellent lacing. The malts start off respectably, with a mild sweetness, and the hops are crisp and light. However, the hop flavors quickly attach themselves to the "off" flavor. I'm not sure where this off flavor comes from, perhaps the yeast, but it tastes strongly of club soda or tonic water with a brutal punch of quinine. A sort of bitter sourness that works in a gin cocktail but is totally inappropriate in the beer. It's a distant cousin of the sour apple flavor that some people describe in their beers. Anyway, this club soda flavor ends up dominating the beer, and made unwelcome repeat appearances in the afterburps. It also stuck to my palate and diminished the pleasure of subsequent beers I drank that evening. By all means, go to Tugboat, and soak in the ambience, surround yourself with books, listen to some live jazz, partake in a Libertarian-slanted political debate. But skip the Summer Ale.