I’m still catching up on all my reviews from my trip to Seattle a couple weeks ago, but wanted to keep things moving with my reviews. I believe this beer was given to me by my sister whose friend gave it to her for me. I’m not sure of the age of the beer or storage conditions, but it’s been in my beer fridge the last several months.

Location: Poured from the bottle into a tulip shaped glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 6% ABV, 200 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s dark red in color, almost brown, and the head fell quickly. However, it appears to have lots of carbonation in it. The aroma is mostly malty and caramelly with hints of nuttiness.

Taste & Feel: The body is fairly light, and the mouthfeel is very crisp from all the carbonation. The carbonation bite made it tough to taste anything up front, but in the middle, there was a nutty, almost hazelnut-like flavor. In the finish, some slightly bitter, dark/black grain astringency came through. The flavors in the aftertaste were slightly nutty and caramelly, and lasted briefly.

Food Pairing: This had a lot of nutty and caramel flavors, and would pair nicely with something lighter, but with some substance. Therefore, I’d probably pair this with BBQ pork chops, as the flavors in the beer would work together with the BBQ sauce and create some nice flavors around the lighter flavored pork.

Overall Impression: I’m not sure of the storage conditions or age of this beer, but judging by the carbonation and flavors, it seemed to have a little bit of age to it. I enjoyed the caramel and nutty flavors in this beer, but the black grain astringency and bitterness in the finish was slightly harsh for the warmer flavors. Overall, it wasn’t bad, and if I get a chance, I’m going to try to get a bottle I know is fresher.

My Rating:

Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]