Rhinegeist "Zango Crush"

For a little while, I tried to figure out what kind of beer this was. Something that sports mango and blood orange has to be an IPA, right? Well, I played it safe and went with my generic glass for this, and I'm glad I did (as we'll get to in the pour). I wish these kinds of oddball not-a-beer-but-from-a-brewery-and-technically-a-kind-of-malted-alcoholic-beverage things would come up with a label and stick to it for the consumer's sake.

The beverage is quite clear and looks like dirty tap water or urine from someone who probably needs to hydrate a little better, but they're trying. The head is exactly the same as you would find on a soda, so there is no retention or lacing. The aroma smacks in the face with mangoes and little else. 

First sip is pretty nice. It's sweet and fruity, but it's very thirst quenching. It's like a shandy that used mango and oranges instead of lemonade and maybe used something watery and inoffensive like Miller High Life as the beer. What I describe actually sounds pretty horrid, but this is better than that.

Tip-in is moderate carbonation with mangoes and a sickly sweet agave. The middle rolls with mangoes and oranges and what seems like it could be more citrus, but either way, it is quite refreshing. The finish is nothing more than the middle, but it trails off into almost nothing but sweet mango.

Bottom Line: Pretty good for a seltzer.

3.5/5