Wow, we're down to the last contest of the first round. It's been an excellent tournament so far and I'm looking forward to the second round. But first we have two more competitors. In the red corner, a cherry ale fighting out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Smuttynose, Hanami Ale. In the green corner, a wheat ale with kieffer lime leaf and lime peel, fighting out of Golden, Colorado, Blue Moon, Rising Moon Spring Ale. Wait, WTF, isn't that where Coors is from, hmmmm. Anyway, the referee for this bout will be ruffles cheddar and sour cream chips. He's surely had a lot of experience dealing with many types of beers.
And the bell rings. Hanami pours out a cloudy copper to red color. While our challenger pours out a slightly cloudy dark golden amber. Hanami seems a bit week on the nose in the early stages with some yeast and faint sour cherry. Rising Moon fails to counter with it,s weak key lime pie nose. Wow, Hanami starts to deliver blows with it's cherry pie flavor, it's mild hop bitters and lingering fruit finish, which goes on for days. The ref stops the fight while he is being eaten. Rising Moon counters the onslaught with it's key lime pie flavor and a crisp hop bitterness, that really balances the sweet out nicely. This beer is crisp and creamy at the same time, interesting. Once again, huge pieces of the ref are heartily consumed. It's time for these competitors to get down and dirty, trading sip for sip.
You would think the Hanami could take down his opponent with his big flavors, but instead the flavor, balance and hop bite of Rising Moon is starting to impose it's will. This is incredible, Hanami has been a spring favorite for years. But Rising Moon could be an anytime beer and would pair great with many foods and our referee, CRUNCH. This has been a great match-up but Rising Moon's excellent balance is really starting to tell. Hanami is stumbling. Oh, a big shot of crisp refreshing beer and Hanami is down. Down goes Hanami. Wow, an amazing contest between two worthy competitors, I would gladly drink again. Looks like Rising Moon will be appearing in my belly every Spring, and moves on to the second round to face Anchor Bock.
No comments:
Post a Comment