Crosstown "Animal Frequency" IPA

This Crosstown brewery is actually across the state. Technically, Tennessee is a very wide state, so it's not all the way across the state, but it's more than a comfortable walk, that's for sure. Either way, it's probably not actually across town from MOST people who are going to encounter it, so I question the logic surrounding the naming of the brewery. 

Distressingly, there are hunks of light brown strands of an unidentifiable solid that wound up being dumped in my glass. The longest is about 3/4 of an inch, and they are all about 1/4 of an inch wide. I have no idea what this is, and I don't want to accidentally swallow it. Their Twitter account couldn't be bothered to respond to my requests. Either way, the somewhat hazy, pale yellow beer sports quite a significant head that takes a bit to become a thick island gripping the side of the glass with significant lacing in its wake. The aroma is fruits, resin, and overall pretty good. 

First sip is bitter and without any of the fruits that I smelled. Instead, the bitterness comes with a side of grains and resin, but I long for the missing fruits. It was a very small sip, though, as I'm still just put off by the non-beer hunks of stuff sitting at the bottom of my glass. I'm going to pour a different can to see if it has the same problem.

The new can doesn't produce NEARLY as much head coming out, and it has slightly less of the mysterious hunks of ... cardboard? Resin? I genuinely have no idea. This can is not free of them, but there are fewer and smaller chunks. Let's hope the 5% ABV is enough to kill whatever germs are in this.

Tip-in is no carbonation with very mild grapefruit and tangerine. The middle rises with carbonation sting and bitterness meeting the fruits and grainy malt. The finish is carbonation sizzle with acidic sting.

Bottom Line: Not a good enough beer to justify the unsettling detritus. 

0.75/5