Another fanciful yet questionable label choice for the artisans at
Foreign Object. I'm not going to correct them, as they have been batting better than average so far, and I don't want to distract them from the task at hand. That task: trying to make New American Hoppy Ales a thing. Seriously, just call this an
APA and be done with it. Stop trying to confuse people.
I'm going to say this is every so slightly lighter in color than the other orange beers that these guys produced for me, but I'm only guessing. The lacing is pretty much the same - and I'm not saying I don't like the pulp-like consistency. The aroma is very different than its siblings, as it is bread-forward, and the smell doesn't waft particularly far from the rim of the glass, but the citrus coating lets me know that this is just a refining of their recipe.
First sip is significantly more tart than the others. It's got some bitterness mixed in there, but it's grapefruit tart that goes hand-in-hand with the citrus, so it's a taste without losing a balance. The bread malt is much weaker than the aroma signaled, but it's still doing a valiant job stopping the bitterness from coming down like a hammer. The sip isn't bad at all.
Tip-in is gentle grapefruit and orange under a carbonation-lit sky with a bit of citric acid coming forward. The middle almost doesn't exist; it's not watery or bold. Carbonation casts its pall over the whole mouth, but flavors of fruits and bread are fleeting at best. The finish comes like the hammer I didn't sip. Bitterness and tartness combine with acid to trail off fruit rinds.
Bottom Line: Better to be sipped, and this is reasonable.
2.5/5