Still dropping

Trying to keep up with the output at Urban Brewing has been exhausting. After a year of following closely, I'm starting to let some releases go by. I never thought I'd say this, but there's only so much I can drink and write about. Anyway, here's my latest from Urban, even if it's not the latest.

I was surprised to find I hadn't already had a beer called Urban Brewing Saison, but they've all had proper names before -- this is the first totally straight one. It's 4.6% ABV and an orange-amber colour, served very cold and topped by a luxurious thick head. Cool banana and dry straw are equally matched in the foretaste, set on a softly effervescent base with a tang of zinc on the periphery. A juicier melon note emerges as it rises above ice temperature, completing the saison picture. This is a very good interpretation of the style, refreshing, quenching and unfussy. I would like a pinch of pepper for seasoning, but that's just a minor personal preference. I doubt Urban has any plans for a core range, but this would be deserving of a place in one.

Reluctantly I ordered the Nitro Pale Ale. I haven't seen one of these in quite a while, and y'know I haven't missed them. The blackboard told me it was the seventh iteration of the recipe, but it was my first. Until the barman struggled to get it to pour properly, it didn't occur to me how odd it was that this existed. Urban serves all of its house beers directly from their bright tanks: how does nitrogenation work there? Not very well, if the pouring drama was any indicator.

It arrived, eventually, a burnished copper colour and smelling of coffee and toffee. There's a distinct caramel foretaste leading to a metallic bitterness in the finish. I'd describe this as a red ale more readily than a pale ale, but it's not a bad effort. Where these are often gloopy and gummy, this has a black-tea dryness holding that back: while it may not be hoppy it's at least clean. Throw it on cask instead and you'd have a quality bitter.

I almost always feel like the only beer geek who drinks in Urban. I guess it's largely a function of its location in the financial district that it doesn't get my sort in much. That gave me a perspective on the next beer, chalked up as DIPA: DDH Citra. I know what that means, or at least what it stands for, but how many other Urban customers would? A venue like this could do with paring back the jargon a little; they don't need to impress the Cloudwater-or-GTFO hazebros. That said, I've always found the barstaff very helpful and forthcoming.

From the name, then, I was expecting something of connoisseur quality from this 8.4% ABV beast. The muddy brown colour and floaty yeast gobbets did not inspire confidence, nor the immediate hot banana esters, but that wasn't the worst of it. It tasted like bleach. I tried desperately to fit this into a Citra-shaped hole: that piney floor-cleaner effect you sometimes get? But I don't think that's it, and either way it's not good. I can't see this one appealing to either geeks or norms.

You take what you get at Urban: that's part of the charm. I'm looking forward to a fresh board of new additions next time I'm in.