Beer of the Weekend #923: Tag
It has been a long time since I reviewed a beer—over one month. This is likely the longest I have gone without reviewing a beer since I started in 2008.
My interest in beer and alcohol has plummeted. I am uninterested. I have no desire to drink beer and have gone weeks between pints. I dumped the leftover beer chilling in my fridge except for the ones I am aging. Part of it is tiredness, part of it is an episode of anhedonia, but it is mostly because I now consider beer unwanted empty calories and carbs. I am committed to achieving my diet and health goals this year, and not drinking beer has helped a lot.
However, my uncle and I rode five days of RAGBRAI last week, so I thought I would commemorate our ride from Council Bluffs to Fairfield by reviewing the official beer of this year’s river-to-river ride: Big Grove’s Tailwind. Unfortunately, I could not find any. It was everywhere on RAGBRAI, but it was not at any of the stores I checked in Iowa City. So the beer of the weekend is another local and cycling-related brew: Tag, brewed by the Lion Bridge Brewing Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The color is very hazy medium gold. A finger of beige, bubbly head does not stick around for long, leaving the surface stippled with bubbles and a thin ring around the edge.
The aroma is a burst of tangerine and soda softness. Wow! There are hints of lemon and lime, which reminds me of Sprite. There are also hints of light spice. It is very inviting and refreshing.
The flavor, however, is disappointing by comparison. It tastes more like tangerine skin than the juicy meat inside the fruit. The tangerine character is there, but it is muted. A dull wheat flavor is most prominent. It tastes like wheat bread with a hint of citrus. Lemon, lime, and soda softness are there as well, and the citrus works the taste buds with a lasting bitterness. It is zesty and has a bite, as advertised, but it is not as good as the radlers that inspired it. The aroma is there, but the flavor needs work. It’s beer for drinking straight from the can.
Fun facts about Tag:
• Style: Lion Bridge classifies it as “Tangerine Wheat Beer.”
• Price: $9.99 for a six-pack of 12-ounce cans at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
• Alcohol content: The Lion Bridge website pegs the ABV at 4.2 percent.
• Calories: 126 per 12-ounce serving (estimate).
• What’s the cycling connection to this beer? Tag is, as Lion Bridge says, inspired “by German ‘Radlers’ that combine soda and beer to produce a light and refreshing beverage.” Radler is German for cyclist.
• Returning to my growing disinterest, this may be the first time I regret buying beer. It has nothing to do with the beer, though the lackluster flavor does not help. It weighs on my conscience as $10 I could have spent on something better.
• Despite my growing disinterest, I drank beer during RAGBRAI. My uncle and I stopped at the Iowa Craft Beer Tent twice each day except for one, and we enjoyed a brew while checking out the vendors and activities in the evening. I admit it was nice to take a break from riding and enjoy a good brew in the shade, and unwind at the end of the day with liquid relaxation. But those two or three beers was all I wanted to drink each day—much less than many others on the ride.
The Quiet Man’s grade: C+.
My interest in beer and alcohol has plummeted. I am uninterested. I have no desire to drink beer and have gone weeks between pints. I dumped the leftover beer chilling in my fridge except for the ones I am aging. Part of it is tiredness, part of it is an episode of anhedonia, but it is mostly because I now consider beer unwanted empty calories and carbs. I am committed to achieving my diet and health goals this year, and not drinking beer has helped a lot.
However, my uncle and I rode five days of RAGBRAI last week, so I thought I would commemorate our ride from Council Bluffs to Fairfield by reviewing the official beer of this year’s river-to-river ride: Big Grove’s Tailwind. Unfortunately, I could not find any. It was everywhere on RAGBRAI, but it was not at any of the stores I checked in Iowa City. So the beer of the weekend is another local and cycling-related brew: Tag, brewed by the Lion Bridge Brewing Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The color is very hazy medium gold. A finger of beige, bubbly head does not stick around for long, leaving the surface stippled with bubbles and a thin ring around the edge.
The aroma is a burst of tangerine and soda softness. Wow! There are hints of lemon and lime, which reminds me of Sprite. There are also hints of light spice. It is very inviting and refreshing.
The flavor, however, is disappointing by comparison. It tastes more like tangerine skin than the juicy meat inside the fruit. The tangerine character is there, but it is muted. A dull wheat flavor is most prominent. It tastes like wheat bread with a hint of citrus. Lemon, lime, and soda softness are there as well, and the citrus works the taste buds with a lasting bitterness. It is zesty and has a bite, as advertised, but it is not as good as the radlers that inspired it. The aroma is there, but the flavor needs work. It’s beer for drinking straight from the can.
Fun facts about Tag:
• Style: Lion Bridge classifies it as “Tangerine Wheat Beer.”
• Price: $9.99 for a six-pack of 12-ounce cans at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
• Alcohol content: The Lion Bridge website pegs the ABV at 4.2 percent.
• Calories: 126 per 12-ounce serving (estimate).
• What’s the cycling connection to this beer? Tag is, as Lion Bridge says, inspired “by German ‘Radlers’ that combine soda and beer to produce a light and refreshing beverage.” Radler is German for cyclist.
• Returning to my growing disinterest, this may be the first time I regret buying beer. It has nothing to do with the beer, though the lackluster flavor does not help. It weighs on my conscience as $10 I could have spent on something better.
• Despite my growing disinterest, I drank beer during RAGBRAI. My uncle and I stopped at the Iowa Craft Beer Tent twice each day except for one, and we enjoyed a brew while checking out the vendors and activities in the evening. I admit it was nice to take a break from riding and enjoy a good brew in the shade, and unwind at the end of the day with liquid relaxation. But those two or three beers was all I wanted to drink each day—much less than many others on the ride.
The Quiet Man’s grade: C+.
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