Yes, I had a
Wet Dream last night, and I'll admit it. And I have to say, I really
enjoyed it, and highly recommend it, too. Why, you should have a Wet Dream
yourself, if you can. Get one, I mean, because they're not sold everywhere.
What? You think I'm talking about that? Please, get your mind out of
the gutter, dear reader! I'm taking about beer, of course, though with the
Atlanta, Georgia Sweetwater Brewery's penchant for sexually suggestive
monikers for their brews, I suppose one could be forgiven for such an
assumption.
But no, the Wet Dream to which I refer is obviously a beer, a highly hopped
beer in the one-off Dank Tank series of brews. For this edition,
Sweetwater has chosen to pump a hoppy red ale out of their dank tanks,
albeit a hyper red ale with 7.5% alcohol by volume. At $6.49 for a 22-ounce
bomber bottle, it's about average for a specialty beer these days, too.
I'll let Sweetwater explain the name to you now:
"Our Wet Dream makes its mark with a full 420 pound load of dripping wet
Chinook hops that were hand plucked FRESH from the fields at Vinny Van
Horn's family farm in Washington State.
We overnighted these bad boys to our bat cave in Georgia and, within 24
hours of those juicy little suckers dangling on the vine, we brewed dem
up......"
Sweetwater Dank Tank Wet Dream Ale pours to a brilliant ruby red
color with a thick creamy head formation and a slightly citric, mostly piney
hop nose. A thick layer of Brussels lace clings to the side of my glass and
follows the liquid down to the bottom. The emphasis is on hops in this beer,
and you'll get them right away. To be sure, there's a bit of chewy malt
underneath, but it loses the battle for dominance almost immediately after
sipping and surrenders the stage to the piney, floral, juicy-orange citric
hops.
Wet Dream finishes with a very floral, aromatic, and slightly warming
finish. A beer with as much hop hype as this one should finish on the bitter
side, but surprisingly it doesn't. Not to say the finish isn't bitter,
because it is, but it doesn't deliver a puckering, intense bitterness.
Really more of a balancing one for me. A decent drinkable brew with lots of
fresh hop aroma and flavor, though not quite what it could have been.
Still, a beer I'd happily drink again. My only caveat is that this is a
one-off, and it seems to be going fast. I tried to find another bottle for a
friend and it seemed to be sold out everywhere I went, so if you see it, buy
it.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft