The first impression is: it’s cloudier than I’d expect a golden ale to be. That’s forgivable because of the fruit-there’s an unmistakable hue of pink, because this is a golden ale with guava. Fruit always has an impact in some visual sense, so I can’t really hold it against the beer.
While my initial sniffs give me some sweetness, it doesn’t take long for this to take off and leave a gently tart guava nose behind. That’s what’s in the body of the beer too, but with the added bonus of a not-quite-bready malt character.
Which is good; helps keep things from getting too uniform. But the concept I keep coming back to is lemonade. This beer is probably excellent on a hot day; the sweetness and tartness and temperature combing to be a real fine beverage to have after being out in the sun. As it stands, it’s a little early in the year for that.
That isn’t the Flamingo’s fault though: it’s still a very drinkable beer and if the time of year I have it makes it better, well that’s a keeper, as far as I’m concerned.
A pint for Dionysus 