Once more I found myself low on beer and short on time, so I visited my nearest store and stalked the aisles. This one does not have the widest variety, so it's becoming harder to stretch out my dollars and find new beers there to try and write about. On the other hand, they do stock more sampler packs than other nearby stores. And as I was scanning them, lo and behold, what do I see but the Craft Beer Explorer Variety Pack. 24 bottles, for the low, low price of $14.99. What? There must be a catch. Tax included, that's only 69 cents a bottle. Incredible! What's the obvious downside?
Well, one of the minuses is that it's from the Craft Brewers Alliance, which is the three breweries who struck distribution deals with, and are partially owned by Anheuser-Busch. They are Kona, Widmer, and Redhook, and while they are not my favorites, they're not actually bad. It's beer and you can drink it.
Minus side? Perhaps I won't like them? Plus side: only sixty-nine cents each! Plus side: the beers included are only available in this variety pack. Minus: what if I HATE them? Plus: C'mon, how could they be that bad? Minus: it's eight bottles of one beer from each brewery. If I don't like them, that's a lot of mediocre beer to go through. Plus side: Oh, well, there's always cooking with beer.
So, I gave the clerk my $16.53 and took the case home. I'm going to start with the one that I might like the least, but, doggone it, I bet someone likes it. And it's called Lemongrass Luau from Kona Brewing Company, in their 808 Series. "Liquid Aloha." Ale brewed with Ginger with Lemongrass & Ginger Added. 5.8% Alc. by Vol.
Appearance: hazy, pale golden coloring, slim white head.
Aroma: Ginger is big here. It's a ginger bomb in the nose, I'd say, if I didn't hate that phrase. Lemongrass lingers just behind. those are the two main culprits, with hardly any contenders.
Taste: Once more, lemongrass and ginger are huge on the palate at first sip. It fades a bit, goes away softly. Mild malt backbone, minor hop bite, nothing gets in the way of the ginger and lemongrass.
It's light, crisp and refreshing, which is exactly what it's supposed to be. The lemon flavor is strongest, but the ginger doesn't stray far from the fore. I've got an inkling that this was intended as a summer special, and I wish I'd bought this earlier in the year and brought it to the beach. Might be something best saved for guests, or a party, or, like I said, cooking. Nothing wrong it, but not the sort of beer I reach for often.
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