Beer Review: I Cannot Tell a Lie (New Heights Brewing Company)
A while back I did a local for local trade with a guy from the deep dirty South. I sent him Boneshire Brew Works, Tattered Flag, and Pizza Boy, in return I received New Heights Brewing, Heist Brewing, WiseACRE, and Southern Prohibition Brewing. This was actually an old can though that he sent me. Dated on the bottom – Canned on December 28th 2018, and I received the beer mail back in August 2019. (Luckily as a sour, its not a big deal, and I even ended up waiting until January 2020 to actually drink it. I don’t think aging affected it too much; but at the same time I do want to mention it for the purposes and sake of the review.)
You’ll notice in the package all of the other beers have been already reviewed here on the blog. Paradise Lost, Adjective Animal, Pina Colada, and Gotta Get Up to Get Down. I enjoyed the group, and this really is no exception. Its not my favorite of this batch of beer mail, but its certainly not the worst beer I’ve ever had before.
I’m not a huge cherry person, in beer or in food, or flavor. Most times it reminds me of the horrible children’s medicine we all took when we were younger, Robitussin and the like, and that always brings up bad memories. (Like thinking about tequila or jaegermeister or shots the day after a horrible binge and hangover due to said drinks.)
Cherry is just too all over the place. Especially if its used as a syrup in the brewing process. Puree isn’t much better, but its some. Maraschino cherries seem to be the ones that most remind me of the old Robitussin bad medicine and just induces the shivers at even the smell.
Luckily that isn’t the case here. There isn’t that ‘yucky’ Robitussin medicine taste, and luckily the sour is more tart than sweet or cloying and syrupy. But lets save this discussion for the full review….
Beer: I Cannot Tell a Lie
Brewery: New Heights Brewing Company
Style: Sour – Berliner Weisse
ABV: 8.7%
IBU: 5
Untappd Write-Up: Imperial Cherry Berliner Weisse
Not the most descriptive of Untappd write-ups / descriptions, but its apt enough I do suppose. New Heights Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Nashville Tennessee, and on Untappd they have 191 unique beers and a 3.97 global rating (as of 2.17.20).
Appearance on this is a bright yellow – golden hue. Sunshiny and bright. Not fully clear and translucent but definitely not opaque. Filtered. Little head, nice carbonation. Nice glowy look to the beer especially in the light.
Aroma is a ‘tart smell’. Its easy to notice it, but a bit harder to define it. If you’ve had a Berliner Weisse or Kolsche or similar tart smelling beers, you can pick it up right away. The cherry notes are there, and you can already tell its not going to be the syrupy medicinal cherry. It has a nice aroma with nothing unpleasant or overpowering.
This is certainly a sipping beer, not a gulping beer. There is good degree of tartness to this. No extreme mouth-puckering sourness, but a definable tartness. The cherry taste is nice and flavorful, definitely not the syrupy or even puree like cherry in some beers (and drinks). Definitely no Robitussin taste. There is a dryness to this, almost akin to champagne, not quite wine dry, but champagne-like to some degree. There is also a bit of an acidity to this, comes possibly with the yeast strain that makes it dry and gives that ‘tart’ smell to the beer. There is just a wee bit of cloying to this and with it a bit of sweetness, especially at the end of the beer that also leaves a bit of an ending aftertaste, though it fades quickly enough.
My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.69 (as of 2.17.20)
That was the last of the batch from the South. I do have the beer mail from California to start drinking up and reviewing. Also, and fingers crossed, hopefully, tonight I’ll do the Intemperance beer by Tree House and complete that series.
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Peace and cheers all!
-B. Kline
