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Are You Tasting the Pith? - 15th May 05
I've been meaning to track down beers from this local micro for some time, but as yet have failed to do so. So delighted I was, then, that they are now being bottled by beersinabox.com, and also that beersinabox.com turned up with a stall at our local farmers market.
Ghoul and Ghost (5.2% abv) is firmly in the pale golden ale style, and is a very well-made. It's crisp and dry, has a pleasant citrus/floral hop nose, and a long bittering finish. It majors on finnesse rather than power, and while it initially failed to wow me, it has that great quality that is the mark of a great beer - drinkability. So while it doesn't send me into a rapture of florid prose, it is perfectly acceptable, although one might be hard pushed to pick it out in a line up.
However, the same can't be said of Tabatha (6% abv), a Belgian tripel-style ale. While it to has the soft drinkability of G&G, it also has a much more pungent note to the nose - citrussy hop and coriander spicing. In fact, it reminds me of that other pale classic, Hop Back Summer Lightning, a beer for which I have a huge fondness. In fact, as a bottled beer, this is a bit of a classic, having both a crispness and a sappy sweetness that keeps the beer interesting to the bottom of the glass. The elevated alcohol just makes itself felt with a slight warming afterkick. Overall though, this beer has balance, poise, and is frankly ludicrously drinkable for a beer this strong. Jolly good, and quite dangerous to boot.
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