Passionate: Mekong Brewing's Bengal Ambush

I can't say that I'm a passionate guy and also not very fruity so I would have to say this beer is everything I've been missing from my life. This delight from the Mekong Brewing Company is a very smooth blonde ale that doesn't hold back on the passionfruit at all though I must admit I have to leave it up to my imagination to taste the ginger that they advertised on the label.

First Taste

Oh wow, you taste the passionfruit. It's got a fruit foward flavour that you usually expect from a sour but with the refreshing, easy to drink, smooth taste you get from a blond ale. Stick your nose into the glass and you get a hefty aroma that's has a tender mix of sweet and sour. It really captures that sensation you get in biting into a passionfruit fresh from the vine.

The Second Sip

As you get deeper into the beer you realise that this is going down too fast and easy and you better pull back unless you're going for an immediate afternoon buzz. At 5.1% it is not a complete heavyweight but it's no weakling either especially considering that it's so smooth to drink that you're into your third one before you realise that you've started to talk too much.

Final Thought

Hey wait, where is the ginger! Ginger is a fundamental ingredient in Vietnamese cooking but I find it too be just overwhelmed by the passionfruit. I think that's actually a good call by the brewer, as it gives the brew a subtext and complexity that isn't immediately noticable and there probably is a good reason why I haven't seen a lemongrass, ginger, garlic and chilli flavoured beer yet.

Who Should Try It?

This is not a traditional tasting beer but it's not so adventurous that you wouldn't recommend it to your mom. If you're looking fo a smooth tasting beer that's a little bit fruity and tart then definitely give it a try.