Horse Mask Party
Kent Falls Brewing Company

 

 

Large, lumpy head which leaves 20% lace on the glass. The liquid is pale straw with a definitive haze.

I get the distinct smell of creamed corn. In the background, I get some faint floral hop.

The flavor starts mild but the swallow brings about a yeasty, hoppy bitterness. The body is watery with a high level of carbonation. Lots of yeast to the finish and aftertaste.

 

 

Had this at Plan B burger bar in Springfield. The beer had a clear, pale yellow appearance with a nice, large head. The aromas included faint florals and hops mixed with some pepper and a buttery warmth. Taste was bitter with very faint flavors, mostly a straw hop taste. The mouthfeel was crisp, light, and refreshing. Overall, not too bad and it went well with my burger meal thanks to its light flavoring.

 

 

 

I've been really underwhelmed and, frankly, disappointed with most of the recent Kent Falls stuff I've had lately, so I decided to give them one more shot to impress me (following a rather nice first few beers I had from them, including the fantastic and confusing Coffeemaker, mind you) with this beer... enter Horse Mask Party. Hope you brought your costume...

Pours a very pale and mildly-translucent golden-yellow color with a nice cap of fairly-retentive bone-white head that laces absolutely spectacularly as it slowly sinks away to a half-finger in my glass. Spatters of foam long-past stick around as vestiges around the rim of my oversized snifter, and I'm getting the feeling this might be a return to form.

The nose, however, begins with some... er, eccentricities? Light honey, day-old bread, musty attic and a rather strange, unprecedented menthol note pervade my senses. With some white pepper, lemon, sage and spice notes, this is a rather perplexing beer right from the start. The malt base seems mostly like pilsner with a snappy, crackery element that does nothing to support the weirdness going on here. Some light notes of ginger and spicy, rustic Brett start to develop after the glass warms a bit. This is just really not up my alley, and it also doesn't smell like a single other "Brett pale ale" I've ever had. I also don't know what Chinook and Tahoma hops have to do with this (they're listed on the label, for reference), as it doesn't feel like notes from either of those hops come out in the nose at all.

On the tongue I get a very light, snappy malt note followed by funky, rustic Brett, a light tea biscuit flavor, perhaps some honey and straw and... menthol. This just tastes like IcyHot smells, and it's not really good. Light lemon peel and a harsh herbal note are prominent in the finish. This is, quite frankly, a mess. It's more like a Brett pilsner in flavor, and the hop notes feel totally muted by whatever else is going on. Unless that was the point?

Feel is soapy and light-medium bodied with a lingering finish of eucalyptus/menthol that reminds me of cough drops or something. It just isn't good. I don't understand why it was released. I don't want to trash KF, but I've given them like 4 or 5 chances to at least make something I enjoyed as of late, and I can't get behind this stuff. I wanted to like this, but it's not worthy. Pass.