This is an EXTREMELY odd beer.
12 oz single from Grassroots, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Pour is a somewhat alarming, yellow color that has plenty of macro notes about it but perhaps more importantly does not have the slightly darker, more orangey amber color that I was expecting. Head and lace are minimal.
The surprises continue through the nose and the tastes where there is an odd combination of Heineken-like skunk, Pilsner malts and a Saaz/Noble bitter ending. VERY peculiar indeed. The beer does have a malty start but never gets very sweet and it has an odd drying, biting finish that reminds me of a cheap, Eastern European skunky lager.
This is simply NOT my idea of a classic O’fest at all, and the beer, although not exactly nasty does leave a funny aftertaste and a very odd sense of style.
Weird, and frankly not good on a number of levels. I find it doubtful that the brewery is unaware of what this tastes like, so I am confused as to what they are trying to achieve. They certainly haven’t produced a beer that I would classify as a contemporary O’fest – perhaps this is a more traditional approach?