Non-Traditional, Traditional Beers 

• Mike Riedel

Proper - Caracosa: If you were drinking beer hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, it would be unrecognizable to today's beer nerds. Centuries ago, beer was life. It was made with whatever was on hand, to make it interesting and nutritious. Our contemporary ales and lagers are more of a luxury beverage than a way of life.

However, Proper Brewing Company is giving you a close approximation as to what an ancient could have been like, by making this mixed fermentation Gruit. Gruits are bittered with herbs and spices rather than hops—generally, anything palatable. Other herbs, spices, and berries might be used to create interesting and pleasant aromas and flavors as well. This ale showcases many indigenous ingredients, along with a mixed fermentation of tame and wild yeast to give it a fruity tartness.

The aroma brings notes of pale, soft wheat and pilsner malts with a moderate sweetness, a moderate tart fruitiness of apricot and grape and mild yeast profile. A delicate herbaceous, piney and lemony bitterness slides in from the herbal additions.

The flavor does a slightly better job at showcasing the flavor of the herbs used to bitter this beer. Pale and cracker malts are notable, with a touch of unmalted wheat body and flavor with a moderate sweetness. Continuing tart fruit notes—reminiscent of peach, pear and grape—nod to a Belgian yeast style. The arrangement of bittering spices creates a notable bitterness with flavors of grass, herbal teas, soft citrus and delicate sage and yarrow. The finish is mildly puckering, with nice fruity tones from the yeast and the wine barrel. The 9.8 alcohol is quite well-hidden.

Overall: This beer was far more accessible than I would have ever guessed going in, as many of the flavors of the bittering herbs used in lieu of hops generated very similar flavor profiles to hops, and a decent bitterness to pair as well. As the ancient, herbed ale style surfaces only occasionally, I'd recommend that anybody interested in ancient-style ales or mixed fermentation beers should try a beer like this one for sure.

UTOG - Snapdragon: Japanese lagers are quite similar to pilsners, but they manage to utilize the most abundant grains of the region to get the job done. In the case of Japan, that would be rice. Japanese rice lagers have that typical round malt profile, but with a much drier finish than their European cousins. This new lager from UTOG enhances the Japanese experience by adding ginger and lime.

Spicy ginger is the primary aromatic quality, and it is very nearly the only aroma that there is. This smells like a spicy ginger ale, but there's also some fresh aromatic lime peel as well.

The taste succeeds in bringing more to the table, with a gorgeous bready, almost crackery maltiness, along with the citrusy, floral complexities of real ginger (and not just the aromatics and heat familiar from cleaning products). Lime is still here, though in very much a cameo role, lingering in the background here and there. Pepperiness does show up as well, melding almost seamlessly with the ginger and a light, spicy hop bitterness on the finish (though there is otherwise no presence of hops whatsoever). Of course, the lingering nature of these flavor components ruins the expected quick finish of a lager, yet the refreshing nature of spicy flavors actually somehow makes this a non-issue.

Overall: As many who have followed my reviewing philosophy surely know, I am a huge proponent of critiquing a beer based on what that beer is trying to be. This philosophy is exemplified here. In this case, I believe UTOG sought to make a nuanced beer complex, while also being refreshing—and they succeeded completely.

Snapdragon's 16-ounce cans will pair exquisitely with sushi or barbeque, while Caracosa would kick-ass with a nice buttery pasta dish. As always, cheers!