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I grabbed this without even bothering to look very hard at the label. Say something is a tropical beer, and then have it come from Boulevard, who has excelled in my estimation, and I'm just going to buy it. It wasn't until I prepared for this review that I really read the front of the can, and I see that they use the word tart, and it's also a straight ale. If you want something that is particularly tropic, you wind up tossing a bunch of hops into it, so you wind up with an IPA. At 4.2% ABV, this is no IPA, and it doesn't even claim to be. It's not even a pale ale. It's just an ale. I'm going to categorize this as a fruit beer, as they appear to have just brewed and ale and then tossed in some guava, pineapple, and orange. By the way, orange is not tropical. That's a citrus fruit. Don't try to confuse me.
A lot of the recent beers that I've had have left quite a bit of detritus at the bottom of the glass, and I don't really find it off-putting. I've gotten used to it, and I can grade a beer based on how it tastes, so I just move on with my life. This one does not have the remnants sinking to the bottom of the glass, and that I'm just as okay with that. The very orange beer is only very orange right in the center, and it yellows out toward the edges. It supports a nice, dense, frothy head that really sets the stage for an enjoyable experience. The aroma is really, really guava forward. I can barely tell that there is pineapple in here, and don't even ask me about the orange. This may as well have been marketed as a guava beer with additional fruits added, based on the aroma.
First sip is troubling. I know it says that it's tart, but I would argue that this has ventured past tart and into sour. It is not so disgustingly sour that I can't drink it, but I don't foresee a future in which the end rating is going to be particularly high. The guava is quite forward, and it is able to overcome the tartness. The pineapple might be bringing a little bit of sweetness into the mix, but it's not bringing a whole lot of flavor. The orange is barely an afterthought with what I think are shadows of orange somewhere beyond the tart, but it is probably just the suggestion that the can has made that is making me think I can even taste orange.
Tip-in is tart enough to make my eyes squint, and the guava and pineapple mixture is a good enough flavor to make me wonder if I can power through a whole lot more of this beer. What seems strange is that peach fuzz and even some banana seem to be peeking out more than the orange that I was supposed to be tasting does. The middle becomes obnoxious with sourness coming right to the forefront while the fruits try to justify the sour with a somewhat enjoyable mixture of bright flavors. The finish is more of a sour beer with the guava leading the way and possibly dragging a little starfruit into the mix.
Bottom Line: Not the worst beer I've had. And that's about the best thing I can say about it.
0.75/5
