Voortrekker
Cerebral Brewing

 

this one is a little suspect for me, it gets really weird when its warm, and the execution is not as good as the idea, which is absolutely rare for these guys. this is brewed with rooibos tea, but its somehow astringent and bitter instead of fruity and floral and earthy like the tea tastes by itself. i also dont get that vanilla bean aroma i usually pick up from this tea. maybe they didnt put in enough, maybe it got brewed too hot, maybe the chemistry of beer instead of water brought out some off flavors from it, but i didnt find this to be overly tasty. some pale type malt in the base, a little sweetness there too, honey maybe, and then an almost acrid tea aromatic that doesnt belong at all. the hops in this dont really seem to work too well either with the tea. it shouldnt sit so heavy in the belly for how low abv it is either. i wonder how they did it, blended finished tea, brewed tea in hot beer, its hard to say, but i would reevaluate this one and that process a little bit if i was responsible for it. not bad, and not all experiments can yield gems, so not a problem for me with cerebral at all, i continue to hold them at the head of their class, but this one needs a tweak or three.