A Year of Craft Beer, Vol. 73, Fox Tail Gluten Free Ale

Gluten Free Week continues even further with this addition from the Joseph James Brewing company. This beer is NOT made with sorghum but with "rices and nectars" and is considered in the class of American Pale Ale, which these days, to me, means "mellow IPA".

I'm doing this blog after 6 hours bottling my own gluten free Belgian Wit (tastes INCREDIBLE) and my fingers are barely functioning so I have to keep this short!

I read a couple reviews and man, some people have whacky notions.  Anyway...

The beer pours a crystal clear straw color with a white head that retains a ring and a Friar Tuck cap throughout most of the drink.  The lacing is there, but widely spaced in columns.  Hey, for a gluten free beer, it's lucky to have a head, let alone lacing so ROCK ON!

It smells like cider mostly.  Estery green apples and some floral hops.

The first sip is a whallup of hops overtop light sweet grains that comes off very much like soap.  I let it sit for a few minutes and came back to it and found that it mellowed in the pilsner glass.  It's bitter from start to finish that transitions midway through with lightly sweet diluted apple cider and a fairly pronounced hop finish that leaves you a little dry.  Not bad.  There are notes of rice, yes.  Not balance well.

Mouthfeel is slightly slimy with a very thin body.  Carbonation is pretty lively.

Overall, for a gluten free beer, I will give it an average score.  As an APA I'd have to score it low, but it's not an APA really, so I'm going to give it a 3 out of 5.  I won't seek it out again as I think the hops overpower everything.

Hey, but you gotta try!  Life is too short for crappy beer!

-Wiss