MTRC
Halfway Crooks Beer

 

 

 

Appearance: Pale straw yellow, slightly cloudy. Frothy white head, with good retention

Aroma: Malt forward with biscuit and grains. Floral hops.

Flavor & Aftertaste: Malt forward with biscuit and grains. Spicy/peppery hops. Medium to low sweetness. Restrained bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, soft, moderate carbonation. Short clean finish.

Overall: This beer will fool you visually. It looks light and thin but has plenty of body and flavor. Pours to a nice big frothy white head with good retention. Moderate and effervescent carbonation. Aromas of biscuit and grains jump out immediately along with floral hops. Flavor follows aromas close with biscuit and grains (which I really like in Helles). Has medium sweetness with restrained bitterness. Drinks with plenty of body but not too filling. Refreshing and invites you to have another. Hits all the style boxes except the slight haze vs clear. One of the earlier reviews mentioned a potential ester. I caught a whiff of a citrus aroma, most likely from Hallertau Mittelfruh hops, which can have some citrus aroma but it rarely shows up in my experience. Very well crafted beer. Perfect refreshment for hot, humid GA summers.

 

 

4.8% ABV | Unfiltered German Style Helles Lager
A: Pours up a clear gold with a three-finger, soapy white head. Good head retention, decent lacing.
S: Clean powdery grain-like, corn forward notes with something subtly reminiscent of pear are followed by pleasant, spicy herbal notes, with perhaps some very subtle phenolic touches of banana.
T: warm, almost buttery (but not in a DMS kinda way) biscuit notes come forward immediately, followed by a bit of toastiness, all of which is balanced out by a subtle but present spicy bitterness in the finish. There are some faint touches of minerality here as well. There’s something here that almost approaches an ester but I can’t place what it is, it’s much too faint but nevertheless quite welcome. On second thought might be a subtle flavor of lemon and cream.
M: On the heavier end of light in the body, not quite medium, but not quite light either, quite dry however.
O: This is another excellent lager from Halfway Crooks, but I’ll say it doesn’t quite leave the impression on me that some of their other lagers have. The experience of tasting this beer is a bit quick, what’s there is good, very good in fact, but it’s gone in an instant, take all these flavors and ratchet them up by about 25% and I think I’d have more to say. Again, this is excellent, it is better than most craft lager on the market, but I wouldn’t say it is their best lager.

 

Can from brewery Aug 2021