Sun Drift
Allagash Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle - $4.99 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, orange-gold body with a medium-small, white head.

Smell: Understated scents of sun-bleached hay, cement flooring, pineapple water, shaved citrus, peach juices. With a little warmth, some of those wheaty, biscuity tones emerge.

Taste: Fairly dry, crackery maltiness with some muffled wheat and a biscuit notes and some little pips and pops of early-on sweetness. Tropical, lemony, showing some more tea quality than the nose, but, again, it's pretty mild. Which, I'm not really sure that's a gripe, as I've had some really god-awful tea-based beers over these many long, painful years. So, maybe it's a 'less is more' deal. The Brett within is fairly subdued and well-heeled, here. Finishes fairly dry with some biscuit, some bright lemon and just enough taste contribution from the Brett and tea to know it is there.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-light carbonation.

Overall: At first, I thought its flavorin's to be a bit light. Then, I came to realize the possibility of Lemon Pledge with a cheap tannic tea bite was a sad, sad alternative.

 

 

 

The hazy pale yellow slightly orange tinged beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1/2” snow white head that recedes slowly but visibly to a cap and then to a thin irregular island of foam while leaving a ring of foam and lacing on the sides of the glass. Sipping creates a couple of arches and lots of medium to small patches and legs of lacing.

The aroma is lightly tart, citric, floral, tropical and shows some black tea and hints of funk from the Brett in the background.

The flavors are similar to the nose but with the lightly tart citric flavor and the black tea up front. While there are also some floral tropical fruit, and a bit of funk from the yeast, there’s also a bit of bready malt. The light sweetness from the malt is pretty much in the background and serves to soften the tea like bitterness.

The mouth feel is on the light side of medium bodied and slightly crisp with the persistent finely bubbled carbonation. The finish begins as most of the flavors fade away leaving the tea like bitterness in the back of the palate to slowly fade away.

Overall I’m finding this beer an interested beer with a complex aroma/flavor profile that is well balanced and has lots of interesting bits and pieces that all fit together nicely. I think I’ll go find another one.

Looks unexceptional, Golden/yellow with a fast receding head. Smell is very muted, picking up earthy fresh hay aroma. Tastes like citrus and black tea, The "Brett" in not that discernible,no funk smell, almost plays in with the citrus harmoniously. Feels refreshing dry and crisp. much carbonation- Overall a summer home run- Not a sour beer-

Bottled 1/3/19; drank 4/8/19 @ the Yarchives.

Cloudy orange appearance.

A violent pour yielded a big bright white head; strong, frothy lace.

Lemon, wheat & faint earthiness in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Lemon & faint wheat flavors up front; dry black tea notes on the finish.

Interesting and flavorful, but a lemon ale with a black tea finish, served cold, is a bit much. Not bad, but not one I'll have again.

Look - very hazy pale orange/yellow in color. Nice 2 finger head upon pour and a decent foam ring and lacing continue on
Smell - Tart fruit (mango, peach, orange) - slight pine scent
Taste - Tart tropical notes up front with a slight bitterness. Stronger sour bite fades in but quickly fades into a drier bread/biscuity malt flavor
Feel - Lighter bodied beer by design - stays effervescent and interesting - doesn't go totally flat
Overall - This is a very nice and flavorful beer. Easy drinking and well balanced between hops/fruitiness/sour-brettiness/malt. I expected this to be stronger on the Brett - but glad it wasn't because it would have overpowered the fruit and other subtle flavors. This one has some nice complexity to it.