Beer Review: Tried and True (Mango) (Boneshire Brew Works)

If there’s one thing I love, its a Monday Night Football game between two 0-3 teams. Especially when that one team is mine – the Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, every season is a long road of torture and abject humiliation, and watching the Bengals is somewhere near the level of being waterboarded at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay base). But I push through every year. We have a new coach now, Zac Taylor. The most whitest of whitest and blandest of blandest men. He wanted to prove to his father he was the bigger WASP so he went and played QB at Nebraska. He drives a mini-van, knows all the words to baby shark, wears short khaki shorts, and thinks Desperate Housewives was the culmination of the television medium. When fist-bumping the black players on his team he refers to himself as “Zakky T”. The Bengals team can be actively described as “aggressively milquetoast”.

….and those are the positives we have on the Bengals this season. So I find myself rooting them on (actually, in a perverse way, rooting for the loss so we can go 0-16 and lock up Tua and get away from Andy Dalton for good) sitting at the bar at Boneshire Brewery alongside Owen and a host of other characters playing Dungeons & Dragons (while MNF “rages” on around them, all of whom are oblivious to it) and Jimi manning the bar. And this was probably the best way to view this schlocking and revolting display of “football” pageantry by a team who legitimately (maybe) Alabama a run (though I’d still bet on Alabama).

The nice takeaway from it all is that Steelers might look better but its all a sham because they got to play at home (like they always do) on MNF to a very enthused crowd, so their 27-3 thrashing of an extremely subpar team is all smoke up the back end of a buffalo. The now 1-3 Steelers will go on with their backup QB to have a subpar / below average season, but at least they got this one big win in. I always love the statistics before these games, like Steelers are 13-0 in their last 13 (now 14-0) Monday Night Football home games. Which makes you wonder just how few away Monday Night games they’ve had, and what their record is on those extremely rare occasions. And just how lopsided that statistic becomes if you are always the home team for these games (note: they don’t give Bengals home games on prime time.) And, Andy Dalton now progresses to a 3-14 lifetime record against the Steelers (which includes a botched playoff game courtesy of Vontaze Burfict, who incidentally enough got himself suspended for the season yesterday).

But enough of this tragedy known as the NFL season 2019, and onto this delicious beer.

Currently on tap at Boneshire Brewery is two Tried and True variants. One of which is pineapple, the other being mango. I got to try the pineapple version at the Lititz Brewfest just before it ended and before I got to help Alan pack up / move equipment to his truck after it all ended. The pineapple version is absolutely delicious. But mango in beer is always a surefire way to make it good (in my opinion at least).

Tried and True is one of the biggest staples for Boneshire. I even have two cans in my fridge as we speak. (Saving them for a review as well coincidentally, having traded the other two for the Mississippi beer mail I received before, and the South Carolina beer mail I just received). Tried and True is a 5.5% ABV Witbier that is extremely delicious on its own right. Alongside other Boneshire Brew Works (BBW) staples of Green Machine, Iscariot, Angels on the Sideline, Lazarus, Dark of the Forest, Testify, and Devil’s Burden; this is one of their consistent staples that rotates on their system and is a beloved fan favorite. Its nice, juicy, soft, low-key (5.5%) and always hits the spot. So adding mango or pineapple can only make it better. Both variants are absolutely delicious and tweak the original and just make it better (or at least the same high quality but with a slightly different taste).

Beer: Tried and True (Mango)
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-up: Tried and True with mango.

The original Tried and True lists a 15 IBU, and has this for it’s Untappd write-up: This witbier, meaning “white”, is good for any occasion. With notes of orange peel, coriander, Belgian yeast, and wheat, this beer is sure to satisfy your thirst. Pours a slightly cloudy gold with a hue of orange and fluffy white head. Delicious.

Appearance is a beautiful golden orange. Juicy like orange juice, unfiltered looking, delicious looking. Poured to the top to almost overflowing by Jimi (one of the many favorite bartenders at Boneshire, along with Owen, Jared, Jason, Shawn, Alexis, or even one of the owners – Alan, Carson, or Alex; occasionally stepping in) there’s not much head to this, but a slight foam ring right at the top barely there. It looks like sun reflection through a window with that beautiful golden hue. The second picture I have here makes it look like it has a bit more haze and sediment then there really is, but it is hazy and it is cloudy and it is unfiltered, but in all the right ways.

Aroma is Tried and True esque and similar to how the original was, and similar to how the pineapple version I had at the Lititz Brewfest was. BUT, like the pineapple one, this one has a lot of mango in the nose (that one, obviously had a lot of pineapple in the nose). Very upfront heavy mango smell. Followed by the orange peel and coriander and a lot of the golden wheat smell that witbiers are known for. This is one of my favorite styles, mainly for the smell. Alongside many of the Belgian styles, you can smell the yeast strain in there. A staple for Belgian breweries this is just a fantastic style overall. You can smell the wheat and the Belgian yeast strain, you can smell the orange peel that is so characteristic of the style, and you can smell the various spices used, typically coriander, which is what Tried and True uses.

If you’ve ever had the Tried and True before, this tastes very similar, but you get punched in the face first by mangoes (and you didn’t even do anything to deserve it!) and then it goes into the true Tried and True (see what I did there?) taste. Extremely strong mango upfront that slides into the orange peel extremely well and like a perfect tandem, before sparking the coriander, the Belgian yeast, the softness of the wheat, and the juicyness that comes from the mango, as it all easily drinks down. It is quick to finish a pint of this and find yourself getting a second (and then third, and then fourth, and fifth, etc.), and at 5.5% ABV its not too bad on you either. You’re not going to get walloped after two or three of these, and it’ll pair so well with the new Smoked Blues BBQ truck next door or with a good steak, and potatoes, and green beans… ok, now I’m just making myself hungry (and its only breakfast time, and besides, like I’ve said before, I’m no foodie). I honestly don’t foresee this one lasting long at Boneshire, so I’d make good usage of it and stop in and drink it up yourself while you can. Maybe pickup some 4-pks to go.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.71 (as of 10.1.19)

And quickly, while I sat there, watching my Bengals jump up 3-0 it quickly, oh so quickly, vanished, into a final score thrashing of 27-3. Onwards Bengal Soldiers, onto 0-16! The road continues on with this beautiful 0-4 start. #tankfortua is going to be the hashtag most used in Cincinnati for this year I believe, despite the Bengals home office attempt to get people to use #seizetheDEY.

I know from talking to a few people who got to go to the Kennett Square Brewfest (so jealous) that the Tried and True (mango) was a huge hit, so I highly recommend everyone stops out to Boneshire Brew Works and give it a good solid try before its gone. Get the pineapple version as well for comparison sake.

Also, fresh Iscariot just hit the taps, and that is always a delicious Black IPA.

This is possibly one of my favorite black IPAs, which can be a miss or hit breed. And I always love seeing it come back on the taps and make sure to get a pint or two before its gone. (Which I had to do last night during the thrashing, and talking old Harrisburg Heat stories with Owen. Reminiscing on John Abe, Mark Pulisic, Scoop Stanisak, Bob Lilley, and the various other notable Heat alumni.) I figure I’ll save this for another beer review rather than doing a two-fer here.

As always, I have a ton of things in the pipelines here. As J. Doncevic said to me last night (he was one of the many playing D&D behind me at the tables), I currently have three opened tabs in the blog control panel for the various events and things I need to write up, including the Midwest Coast Brewing article that is nearing finishing (just waiting for their big weekend to settle down for them). I have the Lancaster Brewfest and the Lititz Brewfest to write up, as well as several beer reviews (like the Iscariot), and so much more, as always I’m running behind and their piling up. But October should be a good month to get them all written down and posted (some dating as far back as July). So be on the lookout for them and much much much much much more.

Currently we’re still listed at #11 on the Top 100 Best Beer Blogs, but it refreshes and reloads weekly – today at noon, so in my review of Iscariot tonight, I’ll be able to see where we stand after this week. We’ve been holding solid, so hopefully that continues.

I am astonished by how well the blog continues to grow in readership, we started out in May with only 100~ views, got to 1.2K in June, hit 2.5 in July, and 4K viewers in August, September concluded with 4.3K viewers, and here’s hoping October tops that and we get to 5K viewers. (These are poor month and not overall totals.)

J. Doncevic also said he has quite a few writings he wants to do, like a recap of the Kennett Square brewfest where he got to help pour for Rotunda Brewing Company, and many more things (like a lot of beer reviews, so be sure to check out his stuff, he gets to try a lot more eclectic things than I do it seems with Tavour and his friends trading with him, so you’ll see a multitude of whaler beers from him).

As always everyone, continue to hit the like, the follow and subscribe, and as always, make sure to leave comments, we love hearing from you guys, its always great to get in touch with our readers (potentially fans? too?).

Until tonight – keep those livers pumping, you’re going to need them boys (and girls)!

-B. Kline