4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
2004 bottle. Talk about unexpected. It smelled a bit light and dusty as noted before, lightly sour yeast, a bit of wateriness, no sweet notes at all. Pour is yellow-orange, dull and coppery, bottle conditioned with a big white head. Looks as good as most APA’s. Flavor is just weird. It tastes like a light gueuze. I can’t deny that that is what it made me think of. Alot like Lindeman’s Gueuze as far as the lightly sweet, uncomplex nature, but there was a dry, sour almost astringent character reminescent of Cantillon products. Anyways, I REALLY liked it. Very unique, and that’s a great thing when it comes to this style, so many APA’s are the boring same old hops and pale malt.
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle (Beaver Island Brewing Co). I was in the NW Lower Penninsula and couldn’t find a decent craft beer in a party store to save my life, until I found Toski-Sands in Petoskey. Anyway, I picked this one up for the regional flare and was pleased for the mostpart. It was very smooth, sweet and citrusy. It felt more like an iced tea than an ale. My wife dug it, so only had the one.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
My bottle says Beaver Island Brewing Co. brewed by Traverse Brewing (which makes sense since Boyne River is closed) and I bought the bottle in Dearborn, MI. It was a clear orange until I dumped the yeast into it, which I didn't really mean to do. Weak, big bubble head that disappeared quickly. Dusty grain nose. A little sour for an APA with strong malts and flavors of lemon, apple and dust. Very little hop in the finish. I never have to drink it again.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Beaver Island is reachable only by ferry or plane from Charlevoix, Michigan. Isolated in northern lake Michigan, it is a lively place with a fascinating history and easily worth a good beer. This is a fairly standard APA, a decent dose of hops but not too much that you don’t get a sense of malt backbone. It’s on tap at the Shamrock, the only bar in Beaver Island’s only town, St. James. A rare brew but one with not quite as much character as the island or the islanders.
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