Little Moab Gratzer
Mt Ascension Brewing Co.

a go back and forth on this one in my mind. like on the one hand i am stoked to see a random little brewery playing around with this style, a super rarity in this day and age and in this part of the world, but on the other hand, the execution of this is not great, and overall this is a tough one, so i kind of worry about it doing a disservice to the style in some way, like this is probably a first gratzer for a lot of people that live here, not a great impression i dont reckon, but still, its fun and its cool to see. a few things to like about this in addition to it being a rare style to brew, and the first is its supreme lightness and clarity, this looks like a watered down coors light, its lighter than yellow and fully transparent, fizzy, and has a short white creamy head floating there, one of the lightest looking beers ive ever taken in. the nose is smoke forward, decidedly german on the grain side, with a sort of chalky minerality. there is a weird zizzle to the ferment, that part makes it smell a little cheap, and there is a sweetness here that doesnt really belong. the flavor is slightly chemical to me, a shame because there is nowhere to hide, even behind the smoked malt in this, which is fresh tasting, smoldering, and delicious. the ferment is whack though, makes the whole thing feel amateur and cheap. relaxed carbonation is fine, this still drinks really light. i wish this was a bit cleaner, it has a ton of potential and i do love the style, i love oak smoked wheat malt too, and its on display in this. glad they took this up, hope it improves on the quality side next go round...