Southampton Secret Ale
This was another random Long Island brew I found down at the Hana Market on Metropolitan Ave. and had no choice but to pick up. I mean, can one really pass over a SECRET ale sitting in the cooler in front of him? I know I can’t.
The SECRET ale pours a lot darker than I expected – it’s almost a deep amber bordering on brown – with a foamy, cream-colored head. The aroma is a malty sweet-and-sour with hints of cherry and raisin. The overall taste, though, is just meh. It’s good, but it lacks any real punch or defining characteristics. I still get a good bit of the malt and fruit on the tongue, but there’s not so much on the crispy, zesty end of Taste Spectrometer.
It also weighs in at a meh 5.1% abv.
The bottle proclaims this to be “…a faithful recreation of Dusseldorf-style altbier. It’s clean malt flavor and crisp hop character make it a most original brew.” I’ll buy the altbier classification for $1.50, but I’ve never been to Dusseldorf so I can’t vouch for that particular variety. As for ‘original’, well I can’t say it’s an overly distinct brew in any way. It’s a rather good beer, as is evident by how quickly the six-pack vanished into my face, but I doubt very seriously that I would ever be able to pick it out of a lineup. I wonder why it’s so secret…
Care to comment?
