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I was recently at the Tailgate brewery, and I got three growlers to go. Next time, I'm going to look at the cans, as they are a lot easier to carry around, keep cold, and get good pictures of. Fortunately, my sister-in-law got me a proper glass for Tailgate a while ago, so I at least have something with proper branding on it for the pictures. This is a blonde, and I want to see how much better they can be than their middle Tennessee competition over at Mayday.
It pours a lot more like a light gold than it does a blonde. Maybe they were going for a dirty blonde or something. I don't expect much head from a growler, but maybe I've just been getting my growlers from the wrong places, as this is the second growler I got from Tailgate, and it managed to keep the head going pretty well. The aroma has a bit of an unexpected skunk along with the yeasty malt. This hasn't had nearly enough time to skunk, so I don't know what that is about.
First sip has no hint of the skunk in the scent. Instead, this is a very nicely refreshing yeast and malt-centric beverage with honey. I can't help but think that it would be more refreshing if the yeast weren't so intrusive, but it is what it is. Coriander seems to be coming from the hops, and the resulting beverage is nice to drink, but I think the shine may be coming off of that idea that this is refreshing.
Very, very light carbonation is laid down over coriander. The middle becomes thick with yeast and honey while the coriander floats toward the outside. The finish is a bit off with a tartness that has bitter under it, but it seems yeast-heavy and unbalanced entirely.
Bottom Line: Almost.
1.5/5
