Tap Handle #837: Amsterdam - Cruiser All Day Pale Ale

Tap size:  12"

Rarity:  25 or less seen, import, tap no longer produced

Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

Amsterdam's Cruiser is a tap I bought directly from the brewery back in 2016, along with a matching tin tacker. The top of the tap features a skull wearing an old-school motorcycle helmet and perched over a set of handlebars, which are gripped by a couple of skeletal hands. The light on the front of the handlebars is painted and isn't real, but if it had been able to light up, this tap would have been next level! Below all this is a long three-sided base with the name of the brewery and the beer on it. Had that been the extent of it, the tap would have been just another toy on a stick. However, a very clever design choice that places a unicycle wheel riding through a bunch of hops at the bottom of the tap really makes this piece unique. Little nicks and cuts are sculpted into the base of the tap in many places to give it an aged or damaged appearance. But there's one design choice that really puzzles me, and that's the pattern on the top of the helmet. There is a hole cut out on one side, and then 2 long lines cut out from the front to the back of the helmet, all of which expose parts of the skull. Maybe it's just a random design choice, but could there be more of a story behind it? Maybe it's damage from a previous crash? Erosion of the helmet over time? The circle kind of looks like a text balloon that you see in a comic book - is this character trying to tell us something? I guess this will remain a mystery for now. The tap was first manufactured in 2014, but a surprisingly low number of these have hit the secondary market over the years. The price has ranged from $50 to $280, but most of the taps have sold between $65-$100. However, there has only been 1 listed since late 2021 and that was over a year and a half ago at the time of this writing. Between 2015 and 2017 the brewery's online store was out of stock for long periods of time; by 2018 it had disappeared from the store completely, never to return.

For more about Amsterdam Brewing, see this post.

Amsterdam's Cruiser is a smooth Golden Pale Ale that has a refined drinkability and rich tropical flavors. They use a bounty of Canadian Pale Malts and slowly add Citra and Sorachi Ace hops, giving the beer a crisp, refreshing taste with a big citrus punch.

Ratebeer:  3.53 out of 5

Beer Advocate:  85 out of 100 (very good)