Beer Man: Boulevard Tropical Pale Ale is a tasty find
Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Boulevard Tropical Pale Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.
I recently sampled Boulevard beers for the first time and was impressed by their variety and craftsmanship, although with some reservations.
Boulevard Tropical Pale Ale was my favorite of the three I tried. True to its name, the hop aromas of pineapple, tangerine, melon and grapefruit were enticing.
These carried through excellently into the flavor, with the pine character in the background. The bitterness was medium and there were bready and caramel malt notes. The can label stated the 5.9% ABV ale was made with grapefruit and passionfruit, and it was nice to find there was a lot more going on.
I was hoping several years ago that the new hop strains offering such exotic fruit components would become more common and am finding that is now the case throughout the country. These types of hops are just so much more tasty and exciting than the dull, chalky pine flavor that has been dominating the American pale ale style.
Ginger Lemon Radler (4% ABV) was a nice surprise, although I am somewhat on the fence with the radler style, which ventures into malt beverage territory. Radler originated in Germany and is low-alcohol beer mixed with carbonated soda or juice, usually lemon or grapefruit.
Boulevard’s version had a pronounced ginger aroma and flavor without being overpowering, and the lemon flavor and aroma was juicy and tangy. There was a faint bready wheat malt background.
It is way better than the typical malt beverage products that are more like alcoholic soda.
Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (8.5% ABV) was a beer that had so much promise. It had wonderful perfumey, floral and citrus aromas. Its rocky head rose an inch above the glass rim and was so solid that no liquid dripped down the sides.
It had nice soft and light malt flavors, slightly sweet with a bit of spiciness. And then the hoppy pine flavor and bitterness kicked in.
Sigh.
I would love to taste this beer without the pine and bitterness, but it is what it is. If you are in the market for a piney farmhouse ale (also known as saison), this is a very good example of it.
Boulevard is distributed in 38 states — it just started selling in Wisconsin last week. The brewery’s Beer Finder link is at the top of its home page.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.