Miami Vice
Brewery: Ugly Duck
Type: American Pale Ale
Alcohol: 4.8%
Country: Denmark
When I was a kid we had these things called cassettes. They were little rectangles of plastic with lengths of black magnetic tape inside. When run through a special device called a tape deck or walkman they would play music! So anyway my favorite cassettes circa sometime in the early 90's were the teenage mutant ninja turtles album, back to the future soundtrack, and the best of Miami Vice soundtrack. Had I ever seen the show? Heck no I was like 9! I remember that cassette though, both sides. I remember listening to it on my first walk man, and I remember listening to it on the ancient tape deck on my parents boat. While floating off the coast of Lake Huron in Michigan might have been far from the white sand and palm trees of Miami, that tape still made an impression on me and is still what I think of whenever I hear anything about Miami Vice. Well now that I have my personal reminiscing about Miami Vice out of the way, lets move onto the beer itself.
Pours a medium orangish type color. Small white head fades rapidly and leaves little trace to be seen. Smell is tropical and citrus with a sweet malty note creeping into the back. Taste follows along with a nice mixture of malt and hops. The malt is sweet like caramel which serves to back up the juicy hop flavor. Tropical bubblegummy fruits and lots of citrus are what you will find in the hop profile of this beer. It's a nice combination which actually makes you think of beaches and palm trees, just like the subject matter of the title. There is a nice little subtle bitter hop tug laying in wait in the aftertaste. The only real off putting thing about this beer is the mouthfeel. A little thin and watery but I can overlook it when considering that nice hop profile. All in all a very nice APA. i really enjoyed my two bottles, and have been told they are even better when super fresh. Ugly Duck is establishing itself as a maker of really fine craftbeers. I am looking forward to seeing what they have on the horizon.
