REVIEW: Rhinegeist Fiction

Today's post is a bit bittersweet. On the one hand it's awesome. I finally made the trip down to Over the Rhine last night to Rhinegeist for the tapping of their newest rarity, a Belgian style extra pale ale called Fiction. Man, If you haven't been down to Rhinegeist yet, get on it. The place is awesome. Big, open, bright, beautiful architecture, and fabulous beer obviously. It's exactly what I like to see in a brewery. Rhinegeist's brews are currently only available in draft so to get your hands on them you'll have to hit up a bar or head down to the brewery to do so. I highly recommend it, the beers are tremendous. So, today I'm taking a look at Rhingeist's second rarity, Fiction. To the beer!

Fiction pours, into what is clearly not a very clean glass (my bad there), a pale hazed over shade of yellow.  It's topped by a finger of loosely bubbled white head.

The aromas here are pretty great. Subtle, but possesing of a tremendous complexity. Fruity notes of kiwi, strawberry, lemon, and white grape are all in there alongside an interesting earthy, grassy character. Quite nice.

On the palate Fiction is quite light in body with a robust carbonation. Fruity notes return with flavors of lemon, grape, and passionfruit. A light crackery malt sweetness is countered by an herbal hop and a grassy bitterness. Everything is very bright, very lively. It finishes quite dry with a nice lingering bitterness.

I really liked this one. Bright, complex, summery, a very unique take on a Belgian style pale. Rest assured that this will not be the last beer from Rhinegeist to grace the pages of this blog. However, in the future doing so will require a bit of a trek. This get's us back to the bitter part of the bittersweet I mentioned up at the top. Effective immediately Queen City Beer Nerd won't be able to be so Queen City anymore. I'm moving to Lexington. Now, it isn't super far and I'm sure I'll be back all the time but it's still a bit of a bummer to lave the city that I love and have called home for as long as I can remember. I'm super excited for the move though. Exciting new adventures and all! Also, Lexington is a pretty booming little craft beer town. My new apartment is walking distance to three breweries! All you Cincinnati folks, it's only an hour and a half drive down 75. Make the trip, it'll be a good time.

Don't worry, Cincinnati. I'll be back.

HD