The guys from Chattanooga, Tennessee have presented me with a bit of a conundrum. They called this "The Good Schist," and I consequently went out to see if maybe there was a new type of beer called a Schist that I didn't know about. It appears that they named this after a type of rock. I don't know why. The can makes a vague reference, but it's not really helping.
The brass-gold beer sports an off-white head that I really feared was going to pop right out of the can as soon as I opened it, but it was just a little cauliflower head that came up from the hole. When I poured, it was quite simple and restrained. Lacing? Yes, there should be some lacing. The aroma is quite fruity. The issue I sometimes find with a DIPA is that the malt intrudes on the scent quite prominently with its heaviness, and I get none of that here. I think I remember why I like a good ale. This is pretty straight forward.First sip mirrors the aroma pretty directly. And that's just fine by me. This is probably not going to win any awards, but it's simple, clean, and quietly fruity. The melon is really adding the body - rather than the malt granting the solidity. As a result, the fairly tame melon lets the citrus and tropical fruits in the hops shine right on through. This is pretty good to sip.
Tip-in is moderate carbonation over assorted fruit meat and rinds with that melon seeming to be waiting on the sidelines. The middle erupts with an annoying series of nettles across the tongue that really disrupts the fruit bath that I had started to enjoy. The finish is a bit unbalanced as bitterness starts to seep in and the fruit peels hang on for the trail off.
Bottom Line: It had promise, and it's not bad.
2.5/5