Beer Forum

Self-description/Style-Goal: "A deep mahogoney ale brewed with Belgium beet sugars, green raisins"

Color: mahogony-red
Alcohol by Vol: 8%
Carbonation:medium-high
Nose: offputtingly metallic, possibly tart green apple/vinegar
Taste: resiny
Finish: pleasing dry ending, moderately bitter, slightly alcoholic

I've enjoyed the Dogfish Head IPAs before and was in the mood to try a few different brews last night, so I picked up a six of this and a 2 others from different breweries.

Last night I started with a raspberry American "weisen", then a summer honey ale. After those two I was looking forward to something exciting.

I did not like this beer last night. I was in the mood for quaffing, and this is definitely more of a sipper.

Tonight I let this one warm up a little, poured it to get a nice head, and started with a sniff.

Unfortunately the main aroma remained the same as I recalled from last night- metallic/bottle-cappy. ( I wonder if this may be due to the high alcohol content and the bottle caps? High carbonation?) At any rate, this kind of pisses me off, as I spent $10 for a six pack. Perhaps if they made a big bottle with a cork instead?

Once you get past the metallic front, the nose gets more complex- resiny and sweet.

Taste wise, this beer is rich, with medium body. Resiny, a touch sour, with a bitter-dry finish on my pallette and a bit of alocohol tingle.

I truly do not like the smell of this beer. I hope that maybe it's just the six I got has been stored incorrectly. After drinking the one tonight and shoving my nose down into the last puddle, I'm noticing it as much. Is that the 8% talking, or did the 30 minutes it took to drink dissipate the offensive metallic smell? I dunno.

Besides that one fault, this seems like a good strong brew to pick up in late fall and enjoy in the evening while reading, or just to savor on it's own.

At 8% I can't imagine drinking more than two in about that many hours.

I have found this as a love it or hate it brew. I am not a big fruit beer fan (with the exception of Long Trail's Blackberry Wheat)

I had two of these for breakfast a few weeks ago. I was at a friends house and thats what they served me instead of food.

I found it to be delicious. I did not expierience and off flavors or metalic flavors. You can taste the high alcohol, the light hints of raisins was delicate and not overwhelming.

I've only had this on tap, but I can't recall any metallic flavors.