Blackcurrant Nitro
Left Hand Brewing Company

 

On tap. Gorgeous velvet color with a tan head that leaves webbing. Super subtle nose that is sweet if you look for it. Taste is malt and black currants with a smooth finish. Proper nitro body and medium carbonation.
Fantastically smooth and easy drinking beer. The currants provide some sweetness but play second fiddle to the whole nitro effect. Color is nice and the low abv doesn't water it down.

I am CANtinuing where I had left off during New Nitro (N2) CAN Mother's Day Beer Sunday (Week 742) - drinking & reviewing Nitro (N2) CANs in support of The CANQuest (tm). I am glad to have you along for the ride!

From the CAN: "Cream Ale with Blackcurrants Addeed"; "Super smooth with a light body, tart berries and vibrant color."; "Good to go from the CAN[,] Like a pro in a glass"; "11 IBU"; "Ingredients[:] Rocky Mountain water, Malted Barley, Hops, Blackcurrants, Yeast"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Caution: Contents under pressure. Keep cold. Avoid shaking. Point away from self and others when opening."; Brewed on the banks of the might St. Vrain/Est. 1993".

The Crack! of the vent was met with a loud Psssshhh! as the N2 energized from within. This always strikes me as a tad disCANcerting, but I pressed on with an inverted Glug to ensure both a cascade & a nice head. It worked & settled into a finger of dense, foamy, creamy, pinkish head with very good retention. Color was a Magenta shade of Pink (SRM = N/A) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a lightly tart berry quality, but I would have been hard pressed to identify the precise fruit. Mouthfeel was full, thick & creamy. The taste was odd in that a) it did not taste like a Cream Ale & b) the tart berry flavor of the nose was kind of lost in translation. It was there, but muted as CANpared to the nose. It was CANother reminder that N2 is a trade-off wherein you get a nice, full, creamy mouthfeel, but the subtleties of the taste become muted and/or lost. Finish was semi-dry, but it lacked a clarity in terms of its taste. What was this? What style? What adjuncts? It just was not well-defined. YMMV.

 

 

Nitro gives it a smooth taste. This is a well made beer & they even put a date on the bottom of the can. I'm glad to say that I was able to try a beer with black currant added to it. Cheers! B

 

 

 

There is a quick gush and the first glass does froth up and last, but not the second. Amazingly watery mouthfeel, especially since the carbonation is not even up to a mediocre tap beer. Color is quite lovely, a purple-tinged pale brew. Aroma is faintly fruity.

The taste hints at blackberry seeds, but the sweet corn dominates. I expected this to be better than average Cream Ale, but for a fruit-flavored beer it leaves a lot to be desired. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station.

16 oz nitro can, with a 2018 BB date at the Fall 2018 ASMF.
Pours with a tall creamy tan head. The feel is also light and creamy. Medium-high carbonation.
Mildly bitter and lightly flavored, this could use an amplified contribution from the currants, but then this is, and is intended to be, a balanced cream ale.

Presentation: 16 oz. can with an "best by" date printed on the bottom. Served in a weizen glass.

Appearance: By far the best aspect of this beer. It has a beautiful, dark, ruby red color and and it cascades beautifully after the pour to form a thick, one finger, light pink head that sticks around until the end leaving some good lacing along the way.

Smell: Almost no aroma, just the faintest hint of berries on the nose but that's pretty much it.

Taste: Malty and sweet with some subdued berry notes in the background. A simple beer that just glides over the palate and doesn't stand out.

Mouthfeel: The thick, creamy, smooth, easy to drink nitro character is in full display. Low carbonation (as expected) and it feels relatively light. It's refreshing but a little cloying.

Overall: It looks incredible and it has a good mouthfeel but the taste is a bland and quite disappointing. The nitro is just a crutch for an otherwise slightly below average beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awful. Managed to taste nothing like either black currants or cream ale. I wondered for a few minutes if I'd gotten some sort of off-recipe bad batch. Poured three of the four into the kitchen sink.