Minimalism. That's what this evening's photograph is conveying. Note the texture of the cinder block. The play of pine wood and beer bottle brown.

Anyway, Ethan Cox of Buffalo's next brewery Community Beer Works, they of the logo I want as a jeans jacket patch, was passing through about ten days ago and dropped off a couple of bottles of their prototype flagship brew, dubbed "prototype flagship brew" as far as I know. Ethan posted on Facebook that the brewery received another lever of approval - "Holy Sh*it!!! We got our Federal Brewer's notice today!!!" - and he expects the brewery to be operational before Christmas. Great news.

So, what about the beer? Ethan said that they used a special new hop but I can only recall it had a name like "Berzangerflotz" or maybe one of Fred Flintstone's co-workers. The beer pours a reddish old pine with a egg white rim and froth. The nose is full of that hop - maybe it's called the Joe Rockhead - tangerine and nutmeg. In the mouth, juicy. A little lighter in body than I expected but loads of toffee and biscuit malty goodness along with a chewy orange - ginger marmalade thang from the hops. It's lovely and immediately makes me want it with a massive plate of Thai spicy shrimp.

No second opinions to share with you. This was a special treat and bodes very well for the brewery.