Empire Wasted
Threshold Brewing and Blending

Look: Bright but pale yellow and cloudy on the pour with a spritzy head that rapidly swells and slowly puckers away, leaving copious amounts of lacing behind

Aroma: Smoke, charred wood, white table grapes, wheat malt, some umami, and light kiwi. With the combo of Nelson hops and smoke, this smells super trippy and like it’s about to work really well or clash like crazy

Taste: Whoa. Kicks off with light citrus and kiwi that just start to build up as a swath of smoke, smoked malt, and umami comes crashing in. The white grapes and wheat malt are noticeable most in the middle as Nelson and smoke battle it out and closes with charred wood, wheat, grapes, and lemon-dominate citrus

Mouthfeel: Light, clean, medium-high carbonation, and clean and crisp on the finish

Overall: This is one wild, albeit tasty, beer. Only my second Grodziskie and one dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin hops to boot so I had to try a single since I know the two collaborating brewers, plus wanted to see if this odd combo would work. In my opinion it does, although it takes getting used to smoke flavors/aromas on top of citrus/grape/kiwi ones but they pulled it off without them clashing. I’m sure it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and maybe even infuriate the purists, but it is a fun and interesting take on an obscure style