這次回台灣，啤酒頭釀造  (Taiwan Head Brewers Brewing Co.) 的 "雷大" 分享了幾瓶新作。這第一支『夏至』 (Summer Solstice), American Taiwan Wheat, 5.1%abv.; 我這是在台灣的初秋(還是很懊熱啊...) 才來品嘗:

一開始的citra酒花香樸鼻，在我568ml pint glass裡充分"堯晃"後，與小麥香及熟瓜的酯香綜合得挺好... 這與入口之後那直爽又微苦微澀微清酸口感的軟性對比真的特殊... 小麥的餘韻與我在其他小麥啤酒中經歷過的十分不同，溫度轉變下與酒經過呼吸後的前後變化也讓齒間舌后琢磨許久~~ 總之，很令人開懷開胃的一支session beer！

下面則是今天品嘗『立夏』的心得~~

Taiwan Head Brewers,『立夏』(Start of Summer), American Pale Ale, 5%abv.

Courtesy of Mr. Song, the head brewer at this “Taiwan Head Brewers” brewing company. They have so far released four beers named (in Chinese) after the 24 Solar Terms.

Coming in a 330ml slim brown bottle, BBE 12/08/2016. Served in an imperial pint glass (568ml) at my preferred 9-10°C (for a bottled “craft beer” – unfiltered but not bottle-conditioned, either).

3.75/5 Appearance: pours a bright amber to light tawny hue, coming with very good clarity, as there’s not much sediment left in the bottle, either. The beige beer head comes with limited retention, against a muted level of carbonation.

3.75/5 Smell: upfront it boasts plentiful citrusy, grapefruit-zesty hop fragrance, not “in your face” but assertive enough, balanced with a good body of elegantly sweet, almost honey-ish & caramely maltiness. A good swirl doesn’t seem to bring up much more pleasure, except for a faint suggestion of green pear-like fruit esters sneaking through.

3.75/5 Taste: slightly sharp on the first split of a second in every sip, it turns pretty clean on the palate, giving plenty of room for the flavour elements to manifest quietly. The citrusy & mildly earthy elements on the nose have transformed well into a zesty dry palate with a lingering wave of moderate tea-ish hop bitterness and a dash of acidic fruitiness to follow, while the malty elements consistently play the secondary fiddle to allow for the mixed hoppiness to prevail. The aftertaste benefits from the lingering bitterness, rendering it a “Session Bitter”-type of beer in my book.

3.5/5 Mouthfeel & 3.75/5 Overall: The carbonation level strikes a bit harsh at first but this is very much down to personal preferences. The hop input and dry hopping have lent plenty of influence on the overall balance, whereby the malt department could’ve been tuned slightly louder to render a bit more body, but all in all this is a medium-bodied, decently structured and elegant take on the APA. Even more so than 『夏至』, this is definitely a proper Session Beer!

--Yau (26/08/2015)