Beer – #289 – Green Flash – Rayon Vert

Green Flash – Rayon Vert Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
in the style of a Belgian Ale and they are in, of course, San Diego, California USA.

Green Flash even label this Belgium-Style-Pale Ale.

This is a 12 fl Oz bottle , that’s 355ml, of a 7% ABV beer, making it 2 standard drink units in NZ, and at 32 IBU which is middle ground for a lot of styles of beer such as Pale Ale, ESB, Porter and Pilsner. 210 calories a serve.

If Green Flash were founded in historical Belgium, Rayon Vert would have been our flagship brew. A bold layering of hops finds balance from traditional malts. Bottle conditioning with fresh ale yeast and Brettanomyces finishes the beer, adding a delightful effervescence, dryness and continuously evolving character. Rayon Vert is Green Flash.

MrsPdubyah has been at work all day, A Sunday, which is unusual, and I’ve done what little chores there were, mostly getting some grass maintenance in.

The bottles from Green Flash are custom made, logo imprinted, which is a nice touch. I’m easily impressed. Really nice fruity aroma on opening, loads of carbonation too!

And it’s all head and no beer. like 70/30 fluff over liquid. It’s a nice orange yellow what little there is of it, and its persistent it could take a while before I can drink any. Familiar ‘musty’ yeast aroma greets the nose.

So Belgium style Pale Ale. I get the earthiness that I associate with Pale Ale, and there is a mustiness that you can associate with some Belgium style ales.

This is somewhat like 3 monts which is what came to mind when I tasted this, the musty and very dryness of it.

So, continuing the mixed message, this also delivers a little sour too.

I can honestly say that this beer makes me feel uncomfortable, in that I’m not enjoying it as much as I want to. The pdubyah-o-meter, my own opinion and random number makes this a whole 7. Which is a good beer. But it is in the pack of beers. But this isn’t a beer for me.

Perhaps this should be better with a strong food to accompany it to give it some counterpoint, I wish I’d thought of that earlier.

No music today, except the sound of leather on willow as there are two cricket matches going on and I’m making a half hearted attempt to watch both, or listen to one watch the other and listen. New Zealand v India is the local match, and England against Australia in the other. NZ need to get a wriggle on and England need to win something this tour.

Food though, being boring is just peri-peri marinaded chicken that will got a going on the barbecue later.

BELGIAN ALE

Belgian-style ales seldom fit neatly into classic beer styles, but this category represents those “session” ales (in Belgium this means under 7% abv!) that do not fit other categories. Colour ranges from golden to deep amber, with the occasional example coming in darker. Body tends to be light to medium, with a wide range of hop and malt levels. Yeastiness and acidity may also be present.

Over at all the same beer read their much better review, http://allthesamebeer.com/?s=rayon+vert where they too say

“This is absolutely the most interesting beer I’ve drank in some time. The appearance and aroma are top-notch, and the taste is great, too; while it does seem to be missing that fuzzy “it” thing, it’s still a tasty beer and worth your time and money to give it a try.

I wanted to score this higher, but just couldn’t…”

Or these