When I first poured the beer, I thought that the haze might just be temporary. It was all swirly and concentrated in the center beer, but it eventually distributes out to cover the entire glass. The result is a significantly hazy, very pale yellow beer that is more akin to dishwater in color. I took this picture about as fast as I could, as it was pretty clear that the head was not going to last very long. There are plenty of points of nucleation, so bubbles are still coming to the top, but there are only a few isolated islands of small bubbles managing to live. The aroma when I poured smelled a little skunky, but it doesn't smell anything like that now. Now it smells like tart citrus and tropical fruits.First sip is stone fruits like nectarine combined with a pear while both are covered in some kind of spices. It's certainly no shrinking violet. This beer wants you know that your drinking beer, and it wants you to know that it's not trying to taste like anything else. Many beers that I've come across have gotten middling reviews because they were just too darn forgettable. That will not be the reason that this one gets a middling review, if it does in the end.
Tip-in is somewhat aggressive carbonation that starts to ease off as tart apricot, tangerine, orange, nectarine, and mango all struggle with each other for superiority. The middle beats with carbonation dragging the various fruits down the center of the mouth while an almost insidious watering thinness starts to dilute them. The finish is where the spices perk up and overcome all the fruit to allow for a tart and bitter trail off.
Bottom Line: Not middling because it's forgettable. Middling because it's just middling.
2.5/5
