Slurred word poems about Great Taste, NEIPAS, and Sours.
This year was my fifth time attending the Great Taste of the Midwest – arguably not only the greatest beer festival in the world, but the greatest event in the world. Each year waiting for the gates to open is how I imagine dead people wait at the old St. Peter’s gates to get into heaven. For a brief five hours, it feels like I’ve lost my original sin and returned home to the garden of eden. God the Great Taste is great.
Anyway, each year you tend to notice a trend. Last year, it was all about mosaic hops. This year, it’s there were two styles that almost every brewery was offering. NEIPAs and some sort of sour. Needless to say. I was in heaven.
While it would be impossible to recount every beer I tried there, I did go and get a pick 6 pack inspired by the styles I tried. This pack is filled with NEIPAs, sours, and a mosaic and a lawnmower for good measure.
Lakefront Brewery – My Turn Series: Arturo – 5.0% – Adjunct Lager
“Herbal and peppery aromas greet the nose from late Mt. Hood hop additions. The light body delivers mellow honeyed malt flavor before wrapping up with a crisp finish.”
Tastes like biscuits, corn, some sweet malts, and hints of peppery notes. Kind of like a black peppery piece of cornbread. But a beer. It makes for a flavorful, yet perfectly subtle lawnmower beer.
‘something something about sipping
cold ones
sitting under a devil sun
thoughts become
grains of sand
never, not
fun.’
Lakefront Brewery – Single Hop Series: Mosaic Blonde Ale – 5.00% – Blonde
“Mosaic hops owe their name to the assortment of flavors they can add to a beer. Just like an artist arranging a hodgepodge of colorful tiles to create a mosaic, brewers unlock the patchwork of blueberry, orange blossom, and bubble gum aromas with well-timed Mosaic additions to the boil kettle. Our brewers thought the soft, malty sweetness of an easy-drinking Blonde Ale best delivers the berry medley and citrus flavors.”
I like this. It has all the highlights of a mosaic IPA. There are notes of mango, pineapple, and tropical juiciness. But unlike an IPA, it’s super light on any bitterness, with just a small finishing grassy, lemon hop note at the end.
‘Good things come in beer bottles
like slurred songs with new found friends
or
lazy sunday weekends
midnight walks
faux aristotle talks
festival sights
carnival lights
and
dives that feel like
home.’
One Barrel Brewing – Hypercolor – 6.0% – NEIPA
Looks like Hypercolor was a special release. Which makes me sad, cause it was a solid local NEIPA. The beer was a hazy, cloudy, sediment-filled, juicy IPA. There were dominant notes of grapefruit, tropical/floral hops, and lemon, with the tail end of the beer leaving you a bit of resiny pine notes. It’s has a mild bitterness, but nothing overwhelming.
‘In the twilight right
where the day bleeds
night it
feels to me
I can see
all the colors
there are
to see.’
Untitled Art / J. Wakefield Collaboration – Pinot Gris – 8.5% – NEIPA
I couldn’t find too much information about this beer specifically, which is a shame cause it sounds interesting. But I’ve had other Untitled Art offerings, and their beer does not disappoint. Their plum berliner weisse and IPAs are some of the best I’ve had. And this, happy to say, no different. I haven’t been down to J. Wakefield brewing either, but from their website, their beers also sound good.
It reminds me of another favorite beer trend that’s seemingly around the corner, Brut IPAs. It has a smooth, low carbonated flavor with notes of white grape. And it finishes dry, with a low, bitterness of floral/grassy hops.
‘Picnics on the hill
lake waves gently lifted
lapping rocks like gentle kisses
wildflowers explode
like fireworks in still
white wine, but rosy cheeks
imbibing on our picnic feast
wisconsin cheese
and charcuterie
what a place to be.’
Dogfish Head – Festina Pêche – 4.5% – Berliner Weisse
‘Served as an apertif or summertime quencher, Festina is delicately hopped and has a pale straw color.’
Instantly in love. It has a very subtle tartness that is balanced by the taste of fresh, juicy peaches. It reminds me of Revolution’s Freedom of Speech, but less intense on the tartness, and a bit more sweet peach flavor. 10/10 a solid sour.
‘A peach suspended against a backdrop of blue
Riper than ever, a golden glowing hue
The air filled with a heavy electric
Humming, almost something poetic.’
Untitled Art – White Grapefruit Gose – 4.5%
Whoa buddy. You can really taste the grapefruit. While not terribly tart, it has a powerful grapefruit dry bitterness to it. Honestly, I would have trouble telling the difference between this and a glass of grapefruit juice. There is some subtle saltiness to it, but not as much as I typically like in a gose-style.
‘Seawater salt and dalmatian sand watching sunsets holding her hand salt hurts, cuts on razor rocks but no that can’t overcome a warm feeling you get when you’re with someone you love.’