A few weeks in the making, here are the reviews of some new Texas brews. Brought to you from San Antonio’s newest brewery: Freetail Brewing Co. You may have read the 2-part review I posted recently regarding Freetail. What I did not have the chance to do, was post reviews of their brews. So, here goes.
La Rubia: This is Freetail’s signature brew and brewed loosely in the American Blonde Ale tradition. I say loosely, as it doesn’t quite fit that mold. As this style is not really seen out of the U.S., it does resemble the Kölsch style, likely due to the use of Kölsch yeast. It is some what a staple of many craft breweries in the U.S. and often is a starter brew for those developing their palet for craft beer.
Freetail calls La Rubia “Our ubiquitous blonde mistress – a temptress from the tap to the glass”. It pours smooth into the glass, leaving a light, but nice lacing that sticks around with a small head. It has a cloudy light yellow coloring and the aroma is of malts and light hops. A little citrus maybe? It tastes malt and hops, although the hops are very subtle and the flavore definately is more in the malt direction. It weighs in at around 4.9 ABV. Pairs well I’d think with something spicey, like Italian sausage and peppers.
Rye Wit: The Belgian Style witbier is usually cloudy due to suspended yeast used and almost always with has corriander and orange peel added in. Some recipies call for the use of oates in the mash which can also lend to the cloudy coloring.
Freetail takes deviates from the traditional Belgian witbier and adds a little rye to it (about 15% malted rye). The aroma is of citrus and spice, with a slight hoppines to it as well. When poured, it leaves a small head that quikly dicipates, but leaves a nice lacing on the glass. Coloring is a very light straw yellow, almost white (imagine that!). Taste is definately that of a wheat beer, however the malted rye ads a nice balance and character to this classic receipie that give it a level of sophistication. Brewmaster Jason Davis advised he used grapefruit rind versus orange in this one.
What would have been nice is a little cardamon tossed in for good measure. It weighs in around 5% ABV and would pair nicely with chicken, fish and cheeses such as brie. This one would really hit the spot after spending the day in the weltering Texas heat.
Torpor Porter: This one is brewed in the American Porter which is based on the English Porter style. This style typically has a high hop flavor to it, lots of malt, oftern cholcolate and coffee flavors as well. Introduced to the U.S. during colonial times, many American brewers used other flavorings such as molasses and gets it coloring from the use of brown malts.
Freetails websit tells us the Torpor is the Freetail Bat’s hibernation period. This one will definately make you feel like hiding away for the winter. It ours nice into a pint glass with a medium head and average lacing. That does not deter you as you notive the dark brown coloring. It smells of chocolate andcoffee as you would expect, but it also seems to have an almost licorish or anise aroma as well. It tastes malt, caramel and chcolate hit the taste buds well on a chilly evening. Overall, a very nice warmer. One that will get better over time. Weighing in at around 5.8% ABV, this pairs nicely with with deserts, as well as most red meats and light cheeses.
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