Big Sky Smoove Cherry Ale

Brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Missoula, Montana USA

Rusty orange. Off-white head noisily fizzles away within seconds. Off-putting nose of medicine-steeped cherries, fusel alcohol, plasticlike phenols, and brown sugar. Hint of cardboard (oxidation). Prickly, highly acidic and fuzzy carbonation. Bombastic burst of plasticklike phenols clash with grainy accents of toasted malt and flat hints of cardboard. Cloying and medicinal, and utterly devoid of any brightening acid or vibrancy. Extremely sharp as its soda pop-esque and briskly minerally. Finishes heavily on the grainy side with toasted malt lingering amid notes of cherry syrup. Overall very shallow, overly airy, husky, and hot with alcohol. Man, making this stuff is a disservice to beer. Just plain awful, deeply flawed stuff.

750 ml from BevMo, Scottsdale. Pours a hazy dark pink with a two-finger lighter pink head. the head dissipated very quickly. The aroma was different. Sweeter, marischino cherry nose. A bit of cider as well. The taste, well, it was not good. It was identical to cherry Nyquil, except Nyquil is not at watery. Heavy ethyl alcohol and chemical flavors with the nasty cherry-Slurpee flavor was jsut bad. I only made it about halfway through my first pint before I dumped it and the bottle down the drain. Avoid.

750mL bottle, courtesy of RiversideAK? Pour is an offwhite,reddish hued liquid with fizzy whiteness bubbling off, taste is kind of lacking, with a dry finish... kind of weak in the taste, however I’m not getting the alcohol that others are.

The 2007 vintage on draught at the Stub & Herb’s in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pours a clear copper amber brew with a fast dissolving off-white head that dissipates clean with no ring or any lacing. Aroma of light berry, golden grain malt with some caramel malt, some fruit punch, with a touch of apple and pear. Taste is medium to full bodied, lightly carbonated with flavors of mostly alcohol, some golden grain and multi-grain malt, a touch of cherry and fruit punch flavors and a hint of medicinal herbs. Finish is semi-dry with a mild alcohol burn aftertaste that slowly disappears. Smoove or Smooth? Na-Ta. Drop the alcohol a wee bit and we’ll talk smooth.

750mL bottle, courtesy of acrdz. Thanks, Mike! Dark orange, fizzy white head. Nose held notes of artificial cherry and toasted caramel. Alcohol and sugary fake cherry flavor beat you to oblivion. Medium bodied, fizzy carbonation, harsh fruity finish. Ain’t nothing smoove about it….

750mL bottle purchased at BevMo in Natomas, CA. Has a large, bubbly head that almost escapes the bottle shortly after opening. Initially, there is a lot of cherry fruitiness in the aroma. This aroma fades and lends way to some more apple cider-like qualities. Later, some caramel malty aromas seem to make an appearance. A little honey sweetness and a touch of band aid are also present. Mildly transparent orange body with a bubbly off-white/pink head that has lots of small bubbles and is quickly dissipating. Horrifically carbonated to start. Becomes extremely bitter. Salty, harsh medicinal, aspirin-like fuesal bitterness. This is not bitterness caused by hops. Very acidic and very carbonated. This hurts my mouth when I drink it. This is hardly smooth or smoove or any other bastardization of the word. Not drinkable.

(750ml bottle, thanks acrdz) Hazy amber body topped by medium off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, cherry, some caramel. Taste is sweet, cherry, alcohol. Medium-full body, some effervescence.

750mL bottle, courtesy of acrdz. Thanks, Mike! Pours a hazy, ruby-orange color; off-white head with decent retention and lacing. Cherry juice, toasted grains and alcohol in the aroma. Loads of sticky sweetness: red fruit juice (cherries, mostly), fruit leather, sticky candy sugar, and plenty of alcohol showing through; a bit rough at the edges; boozy red fruits throughout. Lengthy finish: fruit juice, sugar and alcoholic warmth; rough.