08 Jan Cycler’s Brewing Derailler by Tony

Derailler

Cycler’s Brewing

Montgomery, TX in the heart of the Sam Houston National Forest

Scotch-Porter

ABV: 8.5%

IBUs: 78

Packaging: Draft, 22oz. Bombers

Last time I had Derailler, it was icy-cold outside, we were at Cycler’s Brewing interviewing Clay, and we had it straight from the tank. It was cold and could’ve benefitted from warming up a bit, but with the temperature outside, that wasn’t a luxury we could afford. Despite the cold temp, the beer was delicious.

Luckily, this time I’m at home. And while it’s 35-some-odd degrees outside right now, my beer is nice and warm. The flavor notes are far more prevalent than last time.

Derailler starts off with a mild chocolatey, roasty sweet on the nose, but the taste is a remarkable experience. At first, it’s slick and mild like a Scotch Ale, and as you swallow, the roasty, chocolate notes reappear to linger on your palette with a mild 78 IBUs of bitterness. The finish lingers and lingers.

Derailler doesn’t have a macro comparison, but it reminds me a bit of a beer I had from Texian at The Conservatory one evening. I can’t remember the name of it, though.

I’m giving Derailler 4.5 stars because this sucker is terrific! It might be a 4, but just for the sake of well-executed creativity, I’m giving it the extra half. I’m a sucker for that every time.

Derailler poured black, but when I shined some light on the situation, it was a dark-copper brown. There was 2 fingers worth of airy light brown head that left as quickly as it came – so quick, I could barely photograph it! No lace to speak of and a slick mouthfeel accompanied low carbonation and medium-big body.

It’s hard to imagine this being better than drinking it straight from the tank on site, BUT, the warmer temperature of the beer is what made it better. I expected good, and I got terrific.

The artwork on the side of the bottle of Derailler is gray and purple. There’s a big, purple, sprocket-shaped badge that holds the “Derailler” in big white letters and “Cycler’s Brewing” in smaller white letters, above. The background is a grayscale photo of bike chains. This beer used to be called Derailleur, but due to naming conflicts, they had to change it. There is still artwork and content online that features the old name. Their tap handles are little black bikes that are upright, as if they were doing the perfect vertical wheelie.

At the time we visited, Derailler could only be found on tap at Cyclers Brewing and a few places around town. However, they’re soon to be distributing these bombers around town, so keep your eyes peeled, and grab one when you see it. Here are a few places listed on TapHunter.

I thought Derailler was delicious and a neat take on combining styles. What do you think? Are you following my draft or do you want to shift gears, call me crazy, and leave Derailler in the dust? Let us know in the comments below. Beers to you, Houston!