I recently paid a visit to The Alemonger’s for a mid-week beer tasting and #Beertography session. During the session, we tried three beers from the New Belgium Lips of Faith series which he picked up as part of a recent Craft Beer shopping excursion to State Line Liquors of Elkton, MD. Here are the New Belgium beers that we sampled:
While I would love to give you detailed tasting notes about these beers, the truth is that I didn’t bother to write anything down. I can tell you this, the Coconut Curry Hefeweizen was easily the best of the three (think kinder, gentler Ballast Point Indra Kunindra), while the Pluot was the worst of the three because it was way too sweet and syrupy for both our tastes (our buddy at the Beerbecue blog wrote up a HILARIOUS and spot on review of this beer which is a definite must read!).
In addition to the New Belgium beers, The Alemonger picked up a plethora of other beers that included Maui Brewing Company’s Lemongrass Saison which is the subject of today’s review (he gave me a can to take home). Here is what Maui Brewing Company had to say about this beer in a recent press release:
Maui Brewing Co. (MBC) is happy to announce their collaboration with Lost Abbey, using 100% local Maui raised lemongrass! Lemongrass Saison is a 5.5% ABV beer utilizing White Wheat, Oats, Pilsner malt, Lemongrass, Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops. This first limited release of 2013 will be available starting mid-April in 12 oz. cans and draft. The Lost Abbey is a brewery located in San Marcos, California – famous for their Belgian-inspired beers.
Let’s find out if this beer is any good…
- Appearance: Golden yellow color with a fast rising half inch head that dissipates rapidly. No lacing at all.
- Aroma: Freshly grated lemon zest, a hint of clove, and that yeasty smell that you get from room temperature bread dough that’s been sitting on the counter to rise. One question: where’s the lemongrass?
- Taste: Medium bodied and lightly carbonated with soft bubbles that roll over your tongue. Very crisp and clean with hints of lemon and clove at the onset. That Saison yeastiness kicks in at mid palate with a touch of sweet biscuity malt as well. A subtle bitterness at the end with the lemongrass flavors finally showing up in the aftertaste.
- ABV: 5.5%
While Maui Brewing Company’s Lemongrass Saison was definitely light and refreshing (i.e. a fine Summer beer), I thought it was a bit too polite, i.e. it lacked the funky astringency that I have come too expect from this style of beer. It was a good beer, but not one that I would go out of my way for to try again.
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Many thanks to The Alemonger for his superb hospitality and for sharing his beers with me!
Categories: Brew Review, Maui Brewing Company
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It's just the booze dancing... 
Grazzi!
Not sure thanks are really in order unless you’re in the habit of thanking all of your enablers. Speaking of habits, it’s about time for a 3D IMAX remake of The Flying Nun. That said, the main role has to be recast because Sally Field in 3D (IMAX or otherwise) would be more frightening than a tray of mayonnaise covered scallop ceviche balls on Halloween. I’m thinking the Number One Nun should go to either Giada Delaurentis or Natalie Portman (a stretch, I know, given her membership in the Tribe of My Peoples).
So about the Lemongrass Saison… No comment, yet. I haven’t poured mine but plan to by week’s end. As for the Lot of Lips, the Coconut Curry Hef is a real winner. While similar to Indra, it’s a bit more straightforward (as straightforward as a brew with that flavor profile can ever be). Indra packs a couple extra twisty punches of kafir lime and cayenne – both of which work a different kind of sinister magic but the Lips kiss of clove and bubblegum along with the softer, silky wheat beer mouthfeel really help the other flavors shine. Really impressive brew. Pluot, on the other hand, may have been even worse than @Beerbecue made it out to be. Cloyingly sweet, flat, and utterly uninspiring. The Paardebeloam (or whatever the hell it’s called) was kind of forgettable. Nothing jumped out as entirely good or bad either way.
Bottom line is that State Line is a worthy craft beer geek’s destination. Too bad it isn’t closer to an Arby’s because an hour’s worth of craft beer hunting deserves one of those new brisket sandwiches….
The remainder of this comment will proceed in invisible type:
Cheers!
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Are you suggesting I pulled punches on Pluot? “Yikes this bastard is sweeter than a “My Little Ponies Save Caralot” movie narrated by Mrs. Poole from the Hogan Family.” 🙂
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Crap. I think one of the boys deleted my invisible type reading app. Those little rascals with mess with yo stuff every time!
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I LOVE the Indra Kunindra, so I’ll definitely have to try out the Coconut Curry if I can find it. As for MBC, I’ve only have a few of their brews but it sounds like this falls into my general impression of the brewery: good but not great.
Great review as always!
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I’ve only had one or two Maui beers. I really liked the Coconut Porter and hope to try that again one day. I have a feeling that I would REALLY like their beers if I were drinking them right at the source, i.e. Maui or Hawaii. Maybe one day!
Re: the Lips of Faith Coconot Curry, that stuff was really fun. If you see it, get it!
Glad you enjoyed the read. Cheers!
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Very true re. Maui. Though I’d imagine you’d pretty much enjoy beer while on the beaches of Hawaii!
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Actually, I’d probably go for a Mai Tai or Lava Flow. Those drinks are wickedly good!
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Thanks for the plug. Yeah, that Pluot was bad newz. Maybe as bad as the coconut crab and blobfish.
I had been eying up that lemongrass saison all summer, but never pulled the trigger. I had heard it was a little too muted. Suspicion confirmed.
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You’re very welcome! There are blog posts that I shall refer to often. That Plout post be one of them for two reasons: (a) most informative and as I already said, spot on-edess!, and (b) pure, unadulterated hilarity!
As far as the Lemongrass Saison, it was an ok beer, just not very special. Grab yourself a single serve Saison Dupont instead and save yourself from boredom.
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