Strawberry Gold Summer Ale
Hitchcock Brewing Company

 

My buddy from work gave me a can of this beer when he visited his husband's family out in Western MA... cheers Evan! This is a collaboration between Hitchcock Brewing Company and "The Tea Guys" who are located less than a mile from the brewery itself. According to the label, this is a golden ale with decaffeinated black tea, strawberries, kiwi, and apples added thanks to the collaborative efforts of The Tea Guys mentioned therein.

The beer pours a blush deep amber, way darker than I had anticipated. The head is retentive and bone-white with some awesome lace and legs present. Well... this looks nothing like I thought it would, that's for sure. What the heck? I mean, I guess we can attribute the color to the addition of the black tea and strawberries to the mix, but I'm still kinda blown away by how awesome the head, lacing, retention, and legs are here. This is superb looking! I'm impressed right off the bat!

The nose brings the confusion even closer... I get some cocoa, strawberry, tannins, tropical fruit, and vanilla-like notes immediately. Honestly, my first impression is very positive but it also brings about quite a few questions: what is the base beer here? This smells like something clearly operating at twice its weight in ABV, and I'm kind of uncomfortable with how intense the nose is. I can tell this is going to be crazy.

On the tongue, this is absolutely bonkers. It's not as fruity as I figured it'd be, but it just pops with immense tannic elements and a lot of earthy, herbal hop character. It's super malty too, weirdly enough, but it's very well-balanced. This is sooo weird; I haven't had anything that's confused me like this in a good while, and it's such a well-put-together blend that I can't dislike it. The main profile is super-malty with a ton of sweet caramel-like malt and light crackery/biscuity base malt combining with some light orchard fruit and some suggestions of the strawberry tea. Beer crossed with tea is certainly a unique endeavor that I know is definitely being examined by some of the bigger breweries in the MA/NE area, but this is an insanely unique entry into this newfound realm of beer-hybrids.

The feel here is luckily very well-done. I was assuming, upon my first few sips, that this wouldn't stand up to me enjoying the entire can as I did those odd acclimating experiences from the beginning. A lot of beers like this sacrifice being "beer" to become a vehicle for the collaborative beverage/idea in question, and I'm happy to say that this stands up and fervently denies such an association. This is, definitively, a BEER. As such, it doesn't really have as much drinkability... it kinda chooses the path of most-resistance when it comes to such a commitment. I would say this is a good example of a one-and-done. A beautiful brew that follows through with everything it states on the can, but with the caveat that it is mostly a beer, and not a tea, or... whatever. It's not hoppy, it's not too malty or unbalanced, and it benefits from its use of unusual ingredients in a way I find to be quite nice and balanced. This is, despite all of the things i just said, a really enjoyable, thought-provoking, fun to drink, and, most importantly, quality brew. Once again I'll throw a cheers to my buddy Evan for providing me with an otherwise-inaccessible beer!