BrewBrain Sports Investing

Okay, I said I’d never drink another fruit beer, and I certainly wouldn’t review one. Well, screw it. Fruit beers are here to stay and I wanted to know if i’d just picked bad a whole bunch of times in a row. Can this selection from Shmaltz Brewing Co. change my mind about fruit beers?

Well, to start with, they made it 8%, so if I don’t like it, I can at least sleep well tonight. The crack of the cap releases a nice, sweet, malty hiss smell, er, sound accompanied by smell. There is fruity scent, but I don’t know if it’s pomegranate or not. It smells nice though.

The beer pours a nice deep orange/amber color, but the head is pretty small and virtually disappeared right in front of my eyes. However, the second pour from the bomber was more aggressive and I got quite a nice, thick head with decent retention. Pour it how you like it.

At the first taste I knew I’d been had. Not by this beer, but by all the others. I like it! I mean, it is not an every day beer for me, but for something different - a change of pace - this one does quite well.

This one is a sipper. It has a very nice balance between sweet toffee malts and spicy hops with a mild role-playing fruity flavor managing to not get in the way. That, in my opinion, is what a fruit accent should do. Accent. Don’t dominate. Please. Thank you. This beer pulls the trick off very nicely. It starts off with toffee and caramel, then the sweet, tart flavor takes over for just a bit, finishing with a perfect bitter just to balance the palate. Well done!

Here’s the kicker - my wife, who does not particularly care for beer all that much, tried it and liked it. I asked what she liked and she said it has a sweet flavor before it gets too bitter. There you have it. The beer certainly has big flavors, but the balance between them makes it very drinkable.

The beer has somewhat of a creamy consistency, but is smooth with lowish carbonation that allows the flavors to mingle well.

Overall, I think I’ve found a winner. Again, not my every day beer, but I could definitely see hauling one of these things out for guests on occasion. The 8% really is something to prepare for if you’ve got a bomber to sip.

Enjoy your beer,

Brew Brain