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My family and I have made our annual trek to St. Louis to visit my parents for the holidays. I brought along a few Christmas beers to enjoy, but was nicely surprised that my sister had brought a growler back for me from Blackstone Brewery in Nashville. She was there a couple weeks ago, and called to see what kind I wanted, this one sounded good. I was only nervous that it was in the growler for a couple of weeks before I got it. However, when I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised that they had filled it up to the cap and there was almost no headspace in it.
When I poured it in the glass, it was very clear and had an amber-red color. The head was good and creamy with some slightly soapy looking bubbles. Through the cream colored head, it had an earthy and piney hop aroma, with a very slight malt smell detectable.
The body was medium, and it had a pretty creamy mouthfeel. There was a mildly bitter malt flavor up front, followed by a nice earthy and piney hop flavor. Even though the hop flavor was very solid, there was a good caramelly malt flavor background. There was a very nice hoppy finish, but it was more balanced in the aftertaste.
I would probably pair this with a food that would match the solid body and bitterness. I would suggest a good steak or buffalo burger, maybe topped with sharp cheddar (as suggested in the Holiday food and beer pairings article).
I really enjoyed the body and mouthfeel on this beer. However, I think I enjoyed the hop flavor even more. Although I could only have a couple at a time, I thought this was a very good beer, and hope I get a chance to get back down to Nashville to try a few more of their beers.
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