Tyranny Of Mirrors
Threes Brewing

 

So I like this beer. It has good clarity, nice head creates a lacing, nose is good and taste has a piney flavor it that fades to decent bitterness. Only critique, could be a little more bitterness on back end and a bit higher ABV.

 

 

 

Yesterday, I simply felt like drinking a Pilsner and Vliet was ready-to-hand. Little did I realize that my drinking it was the equivalent of pulling that pesky loose thread on a sweater. Soon, everything unravels & you are left with just a ball of yarn! 8=O I realized that I had several Threes Brewing beers in abeyance for The CANQuest (tm) with one of them (this one) needing an approved pic! I was off & running with this as the next in my brewery horizontal.

From the CAN: "Tyranny Of Mirrors Pale Ale".

I was first drawn to this one simply by dint of its label art. It hints at surrealism, acCANponied by a great color juxtaposition of B&W on deep-red. I hope that my pic CANveys its intensity. Kudos to the artist!

I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. It was kind enough to foam up & form two-plus fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, bone-white head with moderate retention, leaving a lot of sticky lacing in its wake. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4). Nose had a light hoppiness, almost grassy, along with a pronounced biscuity maltiness. Hmm. I would have sworn that this was a German Pilsner if I could not read the label. Thus beCAN a CANundrum in that it was clearly (slightly hazy) NOT going to measure up in terms of the Style's standard bearer, SNPA. Please bear this in mind when looking at my scores. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste lacked the kind of intense bitterness that marks the style, but kind of made up for it with a pronounced biscuit-y maltiness that reminded me of my late maternal grandmother's homemade biscuits. Mmm. Liquid bread? Pretty close! BUT, not really stylistically sound. 8=( Finish was semi-dry and quite refreshing. I was glad to have gotten the ChANce to try it, but it lacked what I want in & from the style. YMMV.

 

A: Good dose of carbonation within a bright orange colored body that has a good distinguishable clarity. Heavy on the head substance, chalk white, foamy, and very well lasting leaving multiple heavy deposits of lace behind.

S: Fresh grapefruit juice, apricot and pear juice. Good awareness, not bad, just doesn't really stand out or distinguish itself from others outside, as well inside style from this brewery. Very similar to their other ipa's I recently had.

T: Flavor was fruity with peaches, apricots and breakfast fruit. Kiwi-strawberry with a building bitterness that follows on the back end. Light to medium bitterness factor, balanced well, optimized for drink-ability.

M: Good amount of carbonation texture, foamy and fluffy on the hold, almost wheat like texture.

O: Overall a solid ipa but just feels like I've had this before, nothing genre bending, nor distinguishable, just a solid ipa by itself. Good balance and drinkability and starts out well enough, just doesn't do a lot to hold my interest deep into the experience. Pros, solid drinker, Cons, not imaginable nor creative, just a place holder and another ipa to try, middle of the road flavor.