Ding Points: 61.50

Pour: 70.00, Nose: 80.00, Palate: 50.00, Mouth: 70.00, Global: 60.00

Tasting Notes:

Oh look, a REAL session beer (if the 4.0% ABV is to be believed!).

Massive carbonation on the pour leads to a silly looking glass full of bubbles. This does recede quickly though (which I suppose is good in one way, i.e. it doesn’t get in the way) but it also falls away badly to leave very little lace and head – ridiculous, considering how this started. A hazy, unfiltered look that is a honey colored affair. Looks a bit ‘homebrew like’ in the glass.

Cricket Hill Brewing Company Inc., East Coast Lager

The nose gives quite a significant hop element which is very surprising. I wasn’t expecting such a note from this beer given the style and the low ABV. Not exactly shocking, but more substantial that I would have predicted.

There is an unfortunate, odd, burned plastic like taste at the front end. The typical chlorophenol/band-aid taste is NOT really what I’m talking about, rather it seemed a bit different and less medicinal that the usual off-notes one sometimes find in that family. The plastic tastes cut in and out, along with a degree of serious grapefruit bitterness. There’s also a bit of soap and some orange pith and peel. Lingering bitterness falls into the back end and the aftertaste, too.

We get some extra dry, cracker-like malts and some metal cation (mineral) notes amongst the  water.

Ultimately this has a LOT of potential, but in the end it drank more like a an imperfect homebrew than anything else – odd. Quite what the truth is I’m not sure, I guess most likely it’s somewhere in between.

Other: 4.0%, American Pale Lager.