Grandma Fingers: Cuban Twinkies
Arkane Aleworks

From a 16oz can, undated. Served in a tulip glass.

Pours a cloudy, flesh colored fruit punch sort of color with a finger of fizzy white suds. The head lasts 20 seconds or so leaving a narrow collar and no particular lacing to speak of.

Nose is sweet and fruity. Aroma of vanilla cupcake and jelly. Jelly doughnut.

Taste is simultaneously fruity sweet-and-tart and fruit pastry or vanilla cake-like. Which is, I guess, pretty much the point. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Cuban Twinkie but I have had an Entenmann’s raspberry strudel coffee cake with the vanilla icing drizzle and, yeah, just like that.

Feel is juicy with a slippery, medium-creamy body and ample fine carbonation. There’s an acidic smouldering in my gullet that will be demanding a Tums in due course.

Overall, tasty and fun in an I-don’t-care-about-diabetes sort of way. I had a four-pack and I regret having given a couple away.

 

A: Pours a murky pinkish orange in color with light to moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate pale orange + ruby red + peach + apricot + burnt orange colored highlights. The beer has a two finger fizzy sudsy foamy off-white head that quickly reduces to a medium sized patch of significantly mottled very thin film covering a little more than 35% of the surface of the beer and a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of slightly tart/slightly sweet guava + raspberries over the top of moderate aromas of bready + doughy + cake + slightly sour wheat malts with moderate amounts of lactose sweetness and a light to moderate amount of lacto tart lemon citrus. Light aromas of vanilla.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of bready + doughy + cake + slightly sour wheat malts with moderate amounts of lactose sweetness and a light to moderate amount of lacto tart lemon citrus. That is followed by light flavors of vanilla. Finally there are moderate to strong flavors of slightly tart/slightly sweet guava + raspberries. Moderate amounts of sweet tartness that lingers wel through the finish.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Moderate amounts of smoothie thickness and a moderate amount of acidic prickliness.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and refreshing tartness + acidic prickliness in the mouthfeel. Really nice flavors and aromas - Arkane is really producing some great pastry sours.