121. 10 Barrel Brewing – S1NIST0R Black Ale Draft

Posted By kkozlen on Jul 22, 2010 | 0 comments

Matt Swihart, Brewmaster at Double Mountain Brewery, and Me

It was a long day at the Oregon Brewers Festival, from the brunch and parade and the tapping of the keg, to trying some new beers and sipping on the 13 year old Russian Imperial Stout from Full Sail.  Having not eaten since the brunch, it was dinner time, and time to get some food in my stomach.  I went to dinner with a few of the marketing folks from Full Sail, and Matt Swihart, the brewmaster from Double Mountain (see picture on the bottom right).  I hadn’t heard of 10 Barrel Brewing (located in Bend, OR), and this was the first place I had seen their beer, so I thought I’d give it a try.

It was pretty black with a thin, tan, creamy head on it.  However, when I held it up to the light, I could see some amber and ruby light coming through.  It had some dark malt and roastiness aroma to it.

It had a surprisingly thin body to it when I took a drink, although the mouthfeel was a bit creamy.  It was light and crisp, yet it had a toastiness and a hint of dark caramel, biscuit, and chocolate maltiness to it.  The lightness made it very drinkable, especially on this hot afternoon.

I had fish tacos, and it went good with those, although I think it would probably go very good with BBQ chicken breasts hot off the grill.  I think the toastiness from the beer would complement the BBQ flavor, yet the light, crisp body would pair nicely with a lighter meat like chicken.  I could also see it going very good with teriyaki glazed chicken or salmon.

Overall, it was a nice, light, crisp drinkable beer with some good flavors to it.  It went nicely on this hot summer afternoon after a long day at the Brewers Festival.