Great Lakes Burning River

So, would you like some beer with your hops?

Great Lakes Brewing Company would like to have a word with you - actually two: Burning River.

Remember that name, you’ll be screaming it later. The beer is one chaotic hoppy mess of sugar, spice and flower, and it is absolutely spell-binding.

The beer is - of course - named after that famed fire in Cleveland that wound up turning the Cuyahoga River into one of those abstract art ponds they show in Epcot Center. The fire was so great, that you could supposedly see it across Lake Erie. That’s how we feel about this beer. You could probably taste it from somewhere in Ontario.

The full metal assault on the taste buds concludes with a slightly sweet finish. After a punishing beatdown of hops, barley and grain, it is a welcome disturbance. This is a beer that begs to be sipped slowly, if you could discipline yourself to do so.

Of all the Great Lakes offerings, this one is the easiest to find outside of the primary market (read: Ohio) and should be readily available between Pittsburgh and Chicago.

If not, there is something wrong with your supermarket, and this injustice needs to be squared immediately.

Rating: 5 pints