Overstroom
Ethereal Brewing

 

With the backbone of pale ale but with the unmistakable weave of the Belgian lowlands, a much more pungent, rustic but charming aura surrounds the malty farmhouse ale- perhaps overstepping the boundaries of style just a bit.

Deep goldenrod in color, and with glimmers of peach and amber, the frothy headed beer sheds an earthen bouquet, chocked full of sandalwood, balsa, cork and faint attic-like must. But to taste, its honey and light caramel underpinnings show much more prominently, hedging on dry graham cracker.

With the sweetness dropping steadily from the middle palate, its starchy malt supports uphold a fruity and peppery balance. Apricot, orange, pear, lime, papaya and grapefruit all seem on the dried and leathery side of ripeness while the mild peppercorn and aniseed spice counter the fruit and insist on a drier, crisper finish.

Its bright carbonation offers a sense of creamy lightness to the taste though the maltiness of the medium-bodied farmhouse ale remains persistent. Hop-forward in finish, its bitterness is redolent of citrus rinds and stemmy herb and resinous pine.