Brewed By: Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego, California
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a 4-pack from Binny's in Illinois; 2012
Style/ABV: Belgian Pale Ale, 7.0%
Reported IBUs: 32
Green Flash Brewing has only been around since 2002 and only puts out about 14,000 barrels annually, but they seem to be on the rise. Based out of San Diego, California, Green Flash Brewing Co. was founded by Mike and Lisa Hinkley in 2002 (in Vista, California). The company brews big beers, and focuses on premium styles and traditional styles with modern twists. The company describes their beer as "cutting edge." Since its inception, Green Flash has won a number of awards for their beers, and has already carved an impressive mark in the world of craft beer. For more info, check out their website HERE.Likely inspired by Orval, Rayon Vert is a hoppy, Belgian Pale Ale, brewed with the wild yeast, Brettanomyces. You can read up on the Rayon Vert on Green Flash's beer page. The beer features bold hops, and is bottle conditioned with live Brett. This beer will continue to evolve/ferment in the bottle, and should pick up some nice funk as it ages. Clocking in at 7.0% ABV, and packing 32 IBUs, let's see how this stacks up.
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| Green Flash Rayon Vert |
Unless you pour this beer at really cold temps, you are going to kick up a huge head. For those reasons, I recommend going with an oversized glass. I babied this beer, and gave it a super gentle pour...only to wind up with 5-fingers-plus of off-white head. In low light, the head takes on a yellowish color, and is built out of super airy, dense, cloudy foam. The body of the beer is a hazy orange color in low light. In bright light, this beer is a juicy orange color. The head remains off-white, with a slight orange/yellow tint. You can see peppery carbonation bubbles in this, but the body of this beer is murky as hell....which you would expect with a bottle conditioned Brett beer. Head retention is spectacular, and there is some epic lacing.
A beer is supposed to take you places, and the aroma on this beer does. I'm instantly reminded of the Bam Bière, or even Orval. This beer takes you to a grassy field, on a windy summer afternoon. I'm getting a ton of grass, leafs, floral hops, fresh light citrus (lemongrass, mandarin orange, coriander), and some pineapple. There is a hint of malts, and earthy, peppery spice on the nose. And I'm getting some really nice Brett: barnyard, horse blanket, funk, slight wood (but NOT like a barrel or sauna). The aroma is really fresh, lively, and bright.
The taste mimics the nose, but then piles on a layer of slightly sour and musty basement-funk Brett. I'm also picking up some clove in the taste, along with some soapy bitterness on the back end (from the hops? the Brett?). This is smooth, and rolls into a biscuit-grain backbone; you get funky Brett, barnyard, grass, pineapple, light citrus, and then the back end rolls into dry hops, light peppery spice, and fade to soapy bitterness. The finish is quite dry and musty.
This is very smooth, funky, and dry. The beer is supported by moderate carbonation. The moutfeel is medium-full to full, but the bright hops make this beer very drinkable at 7.0% ABV. You could easily drink a few of these in one session. Palate depth is good, and complexity is fairly high. What's impressive (and important to consider) is that this beer will continue to age and change down the road. This is going to taste much different fresh. Up front is smooth citrus that rolls into biscuit-grain; you then get funky and musty Brett, barnyard, grass, citrus; the back end starts bitter, teases with light peppery spice, and fades to soapy bitter. The back end is quite dry and features basement must/funk.
Rating: Divine Brew
This is a for realz a Light Divine Brew. Where to start? How about the price. A 4-pack of this is cheap (around 10-12 dollars). This is also readily available. This also "continuously evolves." This shit will change in the bottle, and develop a personality as the years fly by. How long can you age this for? It's hard to say...but my guess is this will be interesting in 2 years, and maybe even 5. Who knows, maybe go longer. The point is, like Orval, this is an impressive beer. The hops and the Brett work well together, and the beer features a nice marriage of Brett funk and bright hops. If you like your beers hoppy, drink this fresh. Food pairings: obviously, this would work with a myriad of strong cheeses. You could also pair this with gamey meats...anything that benefits from pepper, or grassy citrus. I bet this would also work with a variety of white fish, specifically fish that benefits from lemon and pepper. You could even go with lightly seasoned pork roast. It's kind of in that Saison wheelhouse.
Random Thought: I'd love to move to the West Coast someday. For the record, I want the 49ers to win the Super Bowl. I have nothing against the Ravens...in fact, if the Ravens win it, I won't be mad. That would be a hell of a story. I just love Kaepernick. The dude is fun to watch.
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