This is our first encounter with Clown Shoes, a Boston/Vermont-based craft producer of unusual brews, and one of our first experiences with terpenes, those “aromatic oils found in natural botanical sources (including cannabis and hops) that are said to have therapeutic benefits.” There’s no cannabis in Rainbows Are Real, but the brew does include Beta-Pinene and Linalool terpenes, in addition to Azacca, Citra, and Mosaic hops.

Brewed with malt, wheat, and oats, the end result is suitably hazy, if surprisingly dialed back on the fruit. While initially quite rounded and showing a small rush of pineapple and apricot notes, the body fades in short order, turning ever so slightly watery over the course of a pint. That said, a bracing, piney bitterness is never far away and a mild spice-and-citrus element linger on the finish, bringing the haziness back into better focus.

Plus, terpenes are like, good for your psyche.

6.75% abv.

B+ / $12 per 4-pack of 16 oz cans / clownshoesbeer.com 

Clown Shoes Rainbows Are Real

$12

8.5

Rating

8.5/10