To celebrate the impending apocalypse (or just to have an excuse to make some special beers) Fantagraphics have made a strange alliance with fellow Seattleites, Elysian Brewery, to release a series of 12 speciality beers with label art by Charles Burns. The beers are being released at a rate of one per month, with this month's brew being “Fallout” (coincidentally the name of Russ Battaglia's legendary Seattle record/skate/comic store) which is a pale ale made with green cardamom - one of the most expensive, and powerful, spices in the world.
Straight out of the bottle, it's easy to tell that this is an entirely different beast to the previous two limited brews. Niburu and Rapture were Elysian's take on traditional brews, but Fallout, while starting from a traditional pale ale base, is unlike any other domestic brew. The secret is all in the balance.
The flavour is where Fallout really comes into its own. The first taste to notice is the cardamom: a huge, but not overpowering hit, which is full of aromatic spiciness. The spiciness never becomes hot, and is balanced by the undertones of vanilla, giving nuance to the flavour. Of course, being a pale ale, the hops are rich and full, and compliment the spice nicely. After such a powerful taste, Fallout resolves itself nicely and in the aftertaste reveals its yeast flavours: light and doughy to relax the tongue.
It's almost redundant to say that this is the perfect complement to a curry. The beer itself even mimics an Indian meal, with its light, aromatic appetiser of a nose, its spicy entree and the cooling sensation of the bready aftertaste. It's perhaps too full-on of a brew for casual sipping, but is great for savouring. After the disappointment of last month's Rapture, this is a worthy return to form for one of the Northwest's most distinctive brewers.
-- Gavin Lees
0 comments:
Post a Comment