First sip is a bit harsh. As with a good hoppy beer, the hops bite with a bitterness seen only in the dull, lifeless eyes of a high school teacher who has lost the will to teach and is only staying to get full retirement but resents the children for all of the life and choices that they have yet to make. There is the pine cone there to grate across your tongue (the feel of which is actually accomplished by the carbonation). It is clear that this beer deserves a better treatment - it deserves to be quaffed.
A nice draught brings a tip-in of slightly metallic, and light hops. The middle is a mixture of floral hops and more guttural hops with the pine and spices dancing around the palate like Charlie Brown and his friends skating around in circles on an ice rink. They are all getting along, and it all clicks just right. Finish bites down hard with the bitterness - there isn't enough malt in here to balance the beer out. Even if they had added honey or something sweet, it might have dulled the bitterness, but it is a lasting sensation that is recalled by the pine left on the lips.
All told, it's not a bad beverage, but it's not the savior of Music City that I have been looking for. For now, I'll finish the rest of this massive bottle and appreciate the fact that it was relatively inexpensive, and it's really not bad.
3.5/5