Do you need a recommendation for a delicious beer to drink while wearing fancy hats and watching horse races? I would not be able to provide you that recommendation, Chauncey, because the only one that would fit the bill, Flying Dog’s Mint Julep Ale, pretty much sucks.

Flying Dog is one of my favorite microbreweries. It doesn’t hurt that since they are located close by, in Frederick, Maryland, I get a chance to hang out in their tasting room every so often.

While their Pale Ale and infamous Raging Bitch IPA regularly make appearances in my fridge or in my hand at house parties, I look forward to their seasonal and “Brewhouse Rarities” concoctions the most. Some of my favorite seasonal flavors are from the summer months, and Flying Dog won my seasonal-beer-infused heart with Dead Rise. This ale is flavored with Old Bay and wears a giant crab on its label. It sounded gimmicky at first. Look, guys, we don’t need to put Old Bay on everything. Despite initial misgivings, I found the flavor complex, fresh, summer-y (the point, I believe) and just the perfect amount of spiciness, that signature mixture unique to Old Bay. Those who balk at drinking a seafood spice mixture will be pleasantly surprised the flavor is in no way overpowering.

Other seasonal and Brewhouse Rarities have included an Agave Cerveza (now in permanent rotation, gross), a Smoked Belgian Stout (a 2015 Rarity- kinda weird but up my alley), and, this year, a Mint Julep ale in celebration of Derby day which takes place in early May.

I saw this last Brewhouse Rarity a couple of weeks ago and chuckled at its novelty; I think Flying Dog really knows the demographic it caters to, and like me, that demographic will try just about anything once. So I bought the seafoam-colored six pack and headed home. The first bottle I drank that evening did initially assuage the fears that mounted as I stood fidgeting in the check-out line, reconsidering my purchase. The ale was thankfully lacking a saccharine “Junior Mints” flavor, and if anything the mint was straight up herb-y. A-OK so far.

At the end of that first beer, I was not particularly excited for another, but in the name of science (!), I forged on. As the beer got warmer, it got exponentially less drinkable, I realized, and the flavors just do not mix. Though the mint tastes all right, the citrus was way off. Fake citrus + herbal mint + beer to not go well together, and this stuff ended up tasting like someone put a mint tea bag and a lemon warhead in a can of Miller Lite left out all night.

You should buy this beer only on the off chance you are making some cocktail out of it, or if you want to make beer popsicles. That might not be so bad. While I let the six pack languish in my fridge for a week, I did eventually finish it. Mostly because it cost $12 and I cannot bring myself to throw beer away. And it does not diminish my appreciation for Flying Dog overall, as I embrace their creativity and innovation in brewing. I’ll just stick to purchasing Dead Rise throughout the summer.