- Mike Riedel
Level Crossing - Nitro Fruit Bat (Peach): Showing that craft beer aficionados don't have to get all sour over fruit beer, the Level Crossing Brewing team embraces the tang while celebrating the classic American orchard fruit—peach—then topping it off with nitrogen conditioning instead of the standard CO2.
Pouring a slightly clear goldenrod, this nitro ale has the typical tall and lathery foam head that maintains its froth throughout the session. Racy aromatics fill the nose with tart peach and a cast of light lemon. Gentle sweetness layers on the tongue, with a wafer thin maltiness that's suggestive of sourdough, saltwater taffy and hard candy.
The sweetness fades nearly as quick as its froth, while the sourness begins to build upon the middle palate. Peach flavors float gently above the natural fruitiness of lime and lemon. This one is light and easy-drinking, neither too sour nor too peachy, and a beer you could really get into on a hot day. It's nice to see some innovation from these guys, though this is not radical enough to be polarizing at all, and should have real wide appeal. It drinks like a clean sour done in stainless steel—fresh but not mature, tart but not funky, and with the essence of the peach throughout. It's also not sweet or overdone, which I have to confess, I expected it to be. The peach is pretty natural, too, I suppose there is a little bit of a candied or concentrated peach thing going on, but the proportion is light enough that it never becomes too much to be drinkable. I like the tang and non-assertive sourness.
Verdict: Some sour beers you'll find throughout the country have gotten really acidic, so this is pleasant. It's not as dramatic, partially due to the Philly Sour Yeast and the nitrogen. Very drinkable, and just interesting enough on the yeast side. Good stuff.
Proper – Kkua: One hundred percent of the proceeds from this beer will be donated to the Legacy of Aloha, Makai Foundation for fire relief. A classic combo with great clarity, it pours a translucent, sunflower-gold body topped with a finger and a half creamy, slightly off-white foam. Solid head retention yields a slim layer of cap, a thin, frothy collar and a generous spattering of soapy, webbed lacing caked across the walls of the glass. The aroma finds fresh mango pith with an apricot tinge upfront, easing to earthy melon accompanied by notes of grapefruit, pine, and grassy resins. A soft, doughy malt undertone is revealed quietly alongside a subtle passionfruit inflection.
I'm not sure of the hop bill here—perhaps Citra & Mosaic hops—but it brings orange and ruby red grapefruit to open the taste, with melon softened by mango esters over the mid-palate as a flaky, bready malt settles through the back end of the profile. Mouthfeel shows a deft, light body and a rounded, silky fluff of moderate-to-full carbonation, leaving a pseudo-bittering sensation phasing to slick resins through the mid-palate. Creamy interludes preclude a dryness prevailing on the finish.
Verdict: Soft, attenuated nuances shine here, as a potently resinous undercurrent builds on this subtle malt foundation in some great fruity malt texturing. The result is another highly quaffable pale ale offering from Proper Brewing.
As Kkua is a charitable beer, you should hit up all of Proper's locations and snag some. This beer is only on draft, but you can get your growler and crowler fill no problem at Proper's main brewery. Of course, I prefer the in-house enjoyment of most brews. Because Nitro Fruit Bat is only available on the nitro tap, no growler or crowler fills will be available. Nitro beers just don't jive well with those containers. As always, cheers!
