Start 14-Day Trial Subscription
*No credit card required
Tropical Cluster@#$%! by Pontoon Brewing is a mixed-style beer and was judged as one (BJCP sub-style 34B). Berliner weisse is the base style with various tropical fruits (guava, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit) and vanilla and lactose added. It poured golden and murky into the glass, forming a thin white head with little retention.
The initial aroma was dominated by a range of tropical fruit esters. There were neither hop nor malt aromas, save a very faint whiff of wheat from the base style. The flavor profile also featured tropical fruit throughout the taste, with lactic sourness in a distinctively supporting role and no hop flavor or bitterness. The mouthfeel consisted of a medium-to-full body, a dense palate-clinging fruit juicy sweetness, light carbonation, slight alcohol warmth and no astringecy. Overall, this lush tropical fruit-dominated beer is well-brewed, pleasant and imminently drinkable, albeit somewhat one-dimensional. The result is a very enjoyable brew that should appeal to lovers of tropical fruit: think of a smoothie coming out of the blender magically transformed into beer. Extra carbonation would have improved the body and overall appeal of this very good brew.