Happy Repeal Day!!! We've been Prohibition-free for 80 years today. We're happy to raise a pint to that fact today. Also, we're under a winter storm warning and expecting a metric fuckton of snow, which is much better than being disappointed once again by a man telling me that [ ] is six inches. We'll probably get two inches and they'll claim it was six, just to disappoint women everywhere in order to maintain their secret. So, clearly we're drinking tonight, and what better way to celebrate being snowed in than with a winter warmer?
This is one we have yet to have (I don't remember it being available in Columbus last year, but that could just be my faulty memory). By now, you should know how much we (I) love Dark Horse. I went to college 10 miles from Marshall, Michigan, and have a couple of fond memories of the town. It also helps that they put out great beer. So let's get to it.
This pours a deep, opaque brown with a smallish khaki head that doesn't linger long, probably because of the 8.75% ABV. The aroma is pretty exciting, with a lot of roasted malt notes and some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a healthy smattering of clove. You can smell a bit of booziness in the aroma. Taking a sip, the first thing I note is how dry it is. It starts out mild, goes into a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg (but nothing overpowering), and then the finish is like a punch of cloves in the face. I am not a huge fan of cloves (unless they're in small amounts and blended with other spices like cinnamon and nutmeg), so I wish they would have used either less or substituted it with, say, ginger. Ginger and I have a long and storied love affair. The mouthfeel is exceptionally creamy and almost fluffy. A faint stickiness lingers on the lips and tongue after the sip is gone.
I wish I liked cloves better. It's not a bad beer, at all, but I prefer winter warmers with less clove (or none). Nathan loves clove, so I'll bet he'll really enjoy it.
3.9/5 caps
-Jennie
As we hunker down for Snowpocalypse 2013 (remember those hyped up hurricane force winds earlier this year where it knocked over one lawn chair in rural Ohio?), we stock up on Burger Classic and start chilling down our remaining brews we have yet to review. My goal is to get through all the ones we currently have before purchasing more. So far, that game plan hasn't worked out, oops. Woo! Beer!
So this company, Dark Horse, puts out fantastic brews. I have yet to have a sub-par brew from them. I've been waiting to try this since I first saw it. This pours a deep dark brown with, as Jennie said, a light khaki head. This has had time to warm up while I showered and Jennie took lead on this review. The aroma is very clove heavy. After the clove blast, there is cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, and very faint (after heavy sniffing) vanilla. There are some other hints, almost brown sugar and caramel aromas. This smells amazing. If it was off the aroma, I'd give it a 5, but, sadly, I have to drink beer like it's my job. I hope to make it my job someday.
So, the flavor on this. Interesting. Nice smooth, velvety liquid filling your mouth. The nutmeg and clove really come out in the flavor at first, but not overwhelming. After the initial flavor of the two spices; vanilla, caramel and brown sugar make a faint appearance. There's a nice dry finish of fresh vanilla bean toward the back. I really don't catch as much clove as Jennie did, but then again, this has had time to warm up.
Not bad at all, but I still prefer Flying Dog's K-9 (warning, it was our second review, so we were still working out format).
So to a little over a year of reviews and on the 80th anniversary of the End of Prohibition, Cheers.
4/5 caps
-Nathan-
No comments:
Post a Comment