My Tangerine Space Machine Tour

Let me begin by first listing a few random, personal disclaimers; I’m no beer connoisseur, I’m generally good at knowing what suits my taste, and more importantly, I clearly identify those beers I will not be trying again.

I wouldn’t specifically call out fruit-flavored or fruit-infused beers, but I haven’t met a citrus beer I’ll turn down, and February 2018’s Beer of the Month goes with that flow – fruity enough to notice, while hoppy enough to differentiate itself from the Blue Moons and Oberons of our great craft brewery booming country.

If you’re still reading this amateur craft beer review, you probably won’t stop until the end. I’m sorry in advance. Buckle up, you’re about to take a virtual trip on the Tangerine Space Machine.

Any other beer, by any other name, would’ve been purposely overlooked, but not this one. The big, bold, orange and blue box caught my eye, and in light of Valentines’ Day, stole my heart.

Tangerine Space Machine (TSM) is a refreshingly fruity blast of hoppy beer goodness. The kicker – the thing that ultimately compelled me to try it – the words on the box, the marketing works! The first thing I read aloud, “Citrus Juicy Hazy,” brought me back to TLC’s CrazySexyCool album, peaking my curiosity.

Then, I found it, in itty bitty capital letters, on one of the end flaps of the 6-pack box:

There once lived a bitter soul

With a fruitful life as his goal

Hopped in his space machine

Went to New England to find his queen Came back…In a haze of tangerine.

Had I known my love of the English language would bring me to feel so fondly toward any beer, much less a beer that my husband also enjoys, this is my destiny. Who knew a tangerine filled space helmet could inspire so much harmony?

After having enjoyed this juicy, holy nectar, I hope this craft beer isn’t a special, seasonal, temporary New Holland treat – I need it all year ’round.