As far as I know, Terrapin does not use turtles in their brewing process. By default, most beer is vegan, and I would hate to think that they were doing something like Guinness used to do with the fish bladder filter, but Guinness claimed it produced a superior beverage, and their used to be. That was before they ruined the bottles. Now, I just don't know if I should sacrifice turtles to get good beer.
First sip is a very nice mix of fruits, malt, carbonation, and a bitter-sweet combo. The overall sip ends on quite a dry note, but the sip is not defined by it - it's defined by the very skillful way the fruits have been mixed to give a good balance between themselves in addition to the balance of the malt. It's not an easy thing to do, but the sip says they did it. Will the gulp?
Tip-in is guava and passion fruit leading the charge with a carbonation that sparks fruit rinds around the tongue. The middle is smooth, and the fruits rescind from the mouth as the crusty malt builds a nice little home in their remnants that is solid and relatively sweet. The finish comes crashing down with bitterness and fruit rinds scattered around before the dryness of the trail off cements the bitter peels into the zeitgeist.
Bottom Line: Much better for sipping, but not bad at all.
3.0/5