Smuttynose Hanami Ale

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Clear light copper color. Light wheat-y aroma with a hint of sweetness in it. Very wet and refreshing in the mouth, but the taste is awash with a mellow tarty sourness. If I hadn’t read the label, I never would have guessed "cherry". Well, maybe eventually, but not at first. It’s ok, not as bad as everyone has been saying (immensely better than any budcoorsmiller), but not nearly as good when compared with the rest of Smuttynose’s brilliant offerings.

Pours an amber orange with a large frothy head that quickly subsides leaving behind some nice lacing. Lots of malt and molasses in the aroma with some woody hops. Not much wheat or cherry. Weak malty taste with some hops. Cherry notes kicking in at the end, alternating with mild tannin flavors. Smooth malty body with some tart cherry flavor.

6-pack from City Market in Burlington VT, consumed over a few weeks (yes, it took that long...) in April-May 2007 from various vessels, mostly at near-fridge temperatures. Dang this was a disappointment. I’ve become a fairly big fan of Smutty over the last couple of years; no, they’re not Alesmith or New Glarus, but when you see a Smuttynose product you pretty much know you’re getting a quality bottle, something at least drinkable and enjoyable if often forgettable. Not this time. This pours fizzy and pinkish-yellow with just a bit of white head, quickly dying....the nose, well where’s the fruit? where’s the wheat? iit’s a cherry wheat ain’t it? no? well what the hell is it? faintly grassy, dry, just a hint of fruit, well maybe once I taste it.....nope, bub, it’s just mineralic and dry, dessicated old dead fruits and faint malts and just...nothing....high carbonation, easy to drink, but nothing to remember here, nothing even to write about. It’s not horrible, maybe I’m going overboard here, but with the cool name and label and this brewer, I really expected something at least vaguely interesting, even if it is a "lowly" fruit beer.

Bouteille de 12 oz achetée chez Beverage Warehouse (Winooski, VT). Arôme: Odeur de fleurs et de fruits des champs. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée légèrement voilée avec une moyenne densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de cerises avec une pointe de clou de Girofle. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est mince avec une texture légèrement crémeuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement terreux. (Rating #1051)

I once drank transmission fluid in Iraq that tasted better than this. And it was full of sand. Skip this 6 dollar anime coated swill and make your own. Sure. Pour some sour millk, cherry juice and dirty tampons in a gutter and sip it slowly. I’d sooner put my face in a door jam and have Ruben Stuttered slam it closed then apologize through song. He’s sorry...

Bottle (12oz). Clear, fairly deep ruby-amber with an average beige fizzy head. Smells like sweet fake cherry and dry straw. Taste - sort of harsh yet incredibly watery - like brackish sparkling water with maraschino cherry essence. Watery, fizzy, sticky, slightly ugly sugary harsh aftertaste. Not their finest effort.

They really missed the fuckin boat on this one (as so many companies do with their respective summer offerings). I hope they reformulate this sour cranberry juice and make it better. FUCK THIS SHIT.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber-red with a small diminishing pinkish off-white head. Aroma’s surprisingly grainy along with caramel malt and some faint cherry, pretty dull so far. Flavour’s not very pleasant from the get go: It starts off sour but not in a good way, followed by malt, artificial cherry and finishes with an unpleasant metallic bitter finish. Ugh. Thin bodied. I think I was somewhat generous with my rating as it’s not very good at all, I definitely won’t be having this again.