5/5
Insel-Brauerei - Surfer's Summer Ale
Insel-Brauerei bottles are very distinctive, due to their paper wrappers. So too, their beers, which typically seem to have a salty element in the flavour profile, not just with the brewer's Sea Salt IPA. This particular beer, being bottle-conditioned with extra yeast, is - as usual - very lively upon dispensing; if one is not careful one could soon achieve a glass full of frothy white foam. The aroma is citrussy - maybe tangerine and lime - certainly very zesty. In the mouth the beer is soft and creamy from all those tightly packed little bubbles having escaped the confines of the bottle. The taste is wonderfully hoppy and has a nice level of bitterness to just give it an edge. The saltiness in the aftertaste tells you that you are drinking from the Insel brewery; it tells you that just as much as the paper wrapping does. Very refreshing.