Fishbone
Alley Kat Brewing Company

 

355ml can poured into tulip.

Pours a murky golden yellow with one finger of off-white head that leaves some stone archway lace as it recedes. Lots of floaties.

Smells of orange sorbet, nectarine slices, grapefruit zest, mango, melon, pineapple chunks, bready caramel malt, wet stone and mildly piney hops.

Tastes of orange and grapefruit peel, more mango, melon and pineapple tropical fruit goodness, nectarine juice, bread crust, flinty water and more sappy pine.

Feels soft and fluffy. Hefty medium body with frothy carbonation. Finishes dry.

Verdict: Vigorously recommended. A rich, juicy treat.

Hazy straw yellow color with some darker golden highlights to it, pouring with a half finger of whitish, thinly porous head that has very poor retention to it and leave only a watery skim of lacing on the side of the glass.

Great tropical fruity hop aroma of nectarines, mango, light notes of pineapple and hints of papaya.

Lighter tropical notes forward then the nose would imply, though nice flavors of orange juice, pineapples and a faint hint of nectarines.

Medium/ Light bodied with a nice slightly above average amount of carbonation to it and a mildly malty base smooth and faintly biscuty with nice round mouthfeel to it.

Finish has a light bitterness that increases slightly as it warms with a faintly pithy orange peel and wet grassy flavored note to it that lingers slightly but not unpleasantly.

Overall I would have to say that this is a great addition to their core line up, easy drinking tropical with a fairly clean hoppy finish, a great example of a NEIPA and a new favorite of mine.

341ml bottle - a new-ish addition to their main core of year-round releases, six-packs and all.

This beer pours a murky, pale golden yellow colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy and weakly bubbly dirty white head, which leaves some thick, randomly splattered lace around the glass as it takes its sweet time bleeding out of existence.

It smells of gritty and grainy pale malt, mixed domestic citrus peel, smushed-up honeydew and cantaloupe melon flesh, some wet minerality, and more leafy, musty, and piney green hoppiness. The taste is crackery and cereal-forward Alberta malt, a hint of mint-like spiciness, still hard to differentiate melon-y notes, a weak orange, red grapefruit, and aged lemon fruitiness, and more earthy, musty, and piney verdant hop bitters.

The carbonation is decent in its palate(?!!)-respecting frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and mostly smooth, with perhaps a touch of hop acridity engendering a minorly unwelcome wave in the proceedings here. It finishes trending dry, the hop dryness making short work of any lingering malt aspirations.

Overall - this comes across as a prototypical version of the still (YMMV) nascent version of the style. Pretty amenable after all is said and done, and it deserves a special shout-out for the titular reference to the AK labels of lore. Wait, you mean like on all those Old Deuts 'languishing' in yer better cellars around our fair burg?