Beer Review: Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour (Newfangled Brew Works)
What can you say to a free taco? Plus an excellent (kettle sour) beer? And a good book to read while drinking? And an absolutely gorgeous evening at a wonderful brewery?
Nothing but a GOOD TIME.
I don’t often get to stop into Newfangled Brew Works, despite how close it is, unless hitting the place up with a friend (typically Drew or Richard), but I had seen a ‘promotion’ / ‘coupon’ on their Facebook page, the day before my birthday in fact (while I was waiting to donate blood), where it said all you had to do was send them a Facebook message with your birthdate and they would give you a free taco up to 10$ worth. Well, the coupon was expiring on 9.3.19 and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste (I had yet to eat at their built-in Taco Truck, so figured might as well give it a try since it was free), so following work, I made a detour and stopped by.
Certainly glad I did.
Lets break down what all I got here. In the picture, the taco on display is a quesadilla taco, with bonus (2$, but free due to the coupon) beef meat. Total was 7.42$.
The book is ‘Best. Movie. Year. Ever.’ by Brian Raftery. (Taken out of the Hershey Public Library.)
And the beer is….
Beer: Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour
Brewery: Newfangled Brew Works
Style: Sour – Other
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 10
Untappd Write-Up: A kettle sour with guava and lemon added. The guava gives a cotton candy flavor to mix with the bright lemon flavor.
So as you can see, I had all the makings for a fantastic 30-40 minutes of relaxation. Good food, good beer, good book, good weather, nice outdoors. And I definitely did enjoy it too. Especially after a long day at work, it was very nice indeed.
Firstly, diving into the taco, it was delicious. Very good quesadilla taco, with just a bit of spiceyness but nothing too hot or powerful to kill the senses. Not quite super filling though, but still very excellent. (The 3 for 11$ is probably a fantastic deal, though I don’t believe you can get the quesadilla tacos in that special.)
Moving on to the beer, it is a wonderful light, refreshing sour. The guava is definitely a backburner on this, comparatively to some other guava beers I’ve recently had (namely the Tattered Flag and Abomination Brewing collaboration – Tattered Abomination, which was extremely guava forward; or the Wolf Prints beer by Wolf Brewing Co.). I felt the lemonade came out in this much more pronounced and provided it with a great zest and made it a lot more refreshing and crushable than the previous mentioned.
Aroma is light beer smell, nothing extremely sticking out, the lemon is there, the beer notes of grain and malt is there, with something underneath – most likely the guava. But nothing super stand out.
Appearance is light, light straw getting a little darker, but mostly clear and see through. Had some nice carbonation and some good head to it, especially being on draft.
The taste is simple, nothing show off, nothing drop dead amazing, but not a bad thing at all in this beer. It is just a great beer to sit back, read, and relax, and drink. Could easily have stayed and drank another 3 or 4 before realizing it too. Coming in at 5.6% its very light and doesn’t knock you off your feet. The lemonade is upfront and the most significant taste, there is a slight tartness to it, but nothing ultimately ‘sour’ about it. Almost more kolsch like than sour.
I don’t feel like the guava gives off a ‘cotton candy’ mixture with the lemonade like the Untappd write-up, but mileage may vary on that I suppose., as some previous beers I’ve had with guava – Tattered Abomination and Wolf Prints – were very guava forward and they certainly packed a punch. The Fatum Series Guava that Tattered did a while back I felt was subdued, much like the guava is in this, and thats probably better (as far as my tastebuds are concerned at any rate).
The book is about the year 1999 in Hollywood, and the how all of the movies have made an impact since. And that it could possibly be the best collection of movies in one year. Some classics from 1999 include: Blair Witch Project, Following, Go, Run Lola Run, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Cruel Intentions, The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, 10 Things I Hate About You, Varsity Blues, Office Space, Eyes Wide Shut, American Beauty, The Virgin Suicides, Election, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. (It certainly was a great year for cinema, that can’t be disputed!).
Getting back to beer, definitely take a time to stop in at NewFangled Brew Works. Great spot, pretty good/great beer, delicious food, and just a nice vibe and location. Ultimately not too far from some other Harrisburg related spots like Boneshire Brew Works or Spring Gate Winery & Brewery, or ZeroDay and The Millworks, or even that far from places like Tattered Flag, Troegs Brewery, or Pizza Boy.
And to wrap this bad boy up, my Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Write-Up: 4 (as of 9.5.19)
Keep drinking, keep exploring breweries and craft beer, you Pokemon Go Craft Beer Hipster Millennial Bearded Avocado Loving Beautiful People you!
-B. Kline
