As I mentioned in my last post, it was the last night of our three weeks of intensive travel for work, and we had dinner at the RiverHouse Reef & Grill. I started with a Yuengling, but I ordered the mahi-mahi and grilled shrimp, so I thought I’d try something a little lighter. Besides, we were sitting on a pier overlooking the bay and Bradenton, FL, so I thought it would be good to go with a beer that would go with the tropical location.
It was delivered in the bottle with a chilled glass, so I waited just a bit to let the glass warm up a bit. When I finally poured it, it was a very light yellow color and had a decent head which faded a bit. It seemed to be bubbling like crazy with carbonation, and it kept a pretty steady ring of bubbles around the top of the glass. Again, fighting off a cold, I wasn’t able to smell much – maybe a little bit of lager smell (maybe a bit of adjuncts, and a tiny sulfery smell).
The body was extremely light and the carbonation added to its crispness. I noticed a light sweetness in the taste with that classic sort of crisp lager flavor. However, I also noticed a bit of fruitiness which came out a bit more in the finish. I thought it was pretty well balanced, slightly on the maltier side.
I thought the slight fruitiness and malt sweetness made it a good tropical type beer. It went perfectly with my mahi-mahi and grilled shrimp, and it really seemed to accentuate the flavors in my meal. Even after I finished my meal, it’s tropical feel really added to the environment while looking out over the bay. All in all, I really enjoyed it and will definitely have to consider it with other fish meals, and I hope that’s not just the nostalgia of my last night on the ocean talking.
