This week, we’ll look at three random spring beers with added flavors. Adjuncts are ingredients other than malt, yeast, water or hops that add different tastes to a brew. They can be vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, spices, fruit or a slew of other ingredients.

 

Samurai Ale

Great Divide Brewing Co. (Denver, Colo.)

Style: American Blonde Ale

ABV: 5.1 percent

Rating 4.5/5

It pours a golden, apple-juice-like color, has some head retention and is unfiltered but not heavy on yeast. It drinks very crisp with medium carbonation and has a light to medium body. It has heavy rice on the nose and slight bitterness on finish, but fairly toasty malt and rice flavor is prevalent. The bottle says the bear goes great with goat cheese, so I tried it with some feta. It paired perfectly because of its salty and tart bite and creamy texture. Definitely try this beer out to sample something unusual, but it’s not unapproachable by any means. It is sold at Wegmans in singles or six-packs.

 

Apricot Wheat

Ithaca Beer Co. (Ithaca, N.Y.)

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Wheat Ale

ABV: 4.9 percent

Rating: 2.5/5

Ithaca Beer Co.’s Excelsior! Series is where it shines most, but it has some decent year-round styles. This one is clearly modeled after Magic Hat’s flagship, #9, but it’s not quite as good, unfortunately. It is slightly cheaper, which makes sense because quality suffers from the lack of a fully defined flavor profile. It smells of apricot, sweet malts and wheat. The older the bottle, the less the apricot smell and taste are prevalent. Getting a newer one is better, but it’s harder to find a recently bottled one at stores that don’t move six packs of it quickly. Give it a try if you like Magic Hat #9, but prepare to not be impressed.

 

Agave Wheat

Breckenridge Brewery (Denver/Breckenridge, Colo.)

Style: Herbed/Spiced Wheat Ale

ABV: 4.2 percent

Rating: 3.5/5

It pours an orangey color and is hard to distinguish individual smells on the nose other than some mild citrus. They use Salmiana Agave nectar, which is not very strong in smell or taste, but adds a mild sweet touch compared to the slight bitterness present from hops. It predominantly tastes of wheat and tart citrus. The citrusy yeast blends well with the agave, creating a relatively well-balanced beer. There are better fruit adjunct beers, but it’s light and crisp and could help introduce you to interesting fruit flavors in the future, such as star fruit or dragon fruit.

 

— Compiled by Lucas Sacks, staff writer, ldsacks@syr.edu

Published on April 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm