After our ABNormal Brewers steering meeting, I stopped at Medici for a quick drink to get a beer which would meet my goal toward my Oktoberfest Challenge, and get another punch on my Wednesday Warriors card. While I’m now only 2 Wednesdays away from becoming a Wednesday Warrior, I was not able to find a beer to meet my challenge for today. While I’m again bummed about falling short in my quest, I did enjoy stumbling across this beer.
It was a deep brown color with some red highlights when I held it up to the light. There was almost no head on it, but I was able to very easily smell it. It had a very full aroma of sweet caramel malts with an almost BBQ type smokiness (almost like a mix of brown sugar, molasses, and Worcestershire sauce).
The body was medium and it had a smooth mouthfeel with just a little bit of carbonation tingle. The flavors reminded me a lot of the aroma – a sweet maltiness paired with a BBQ-like smokiness. It was a complex mix of brown sugar, molasses, and Worcestershire sauce type flavors which carried into the finish and aftertaste. There was a hit of tobacco and chocolatiness in finish at times as well, but I struggled to find the spiciness I typically associate with rye.
As I was drinking it, all I could think about was a thick juicy steak. As I was drinking this with a friend, we both contemplated that this would go perfectly either with a nice steak for dinner, or drunk with a cigar in the evening. This would also go great with almost any BBQ dish.
I’m note sure I’ve had a beer that would more perfectly pair with BBQ or a steak. Tremendously flavorful, this is not the type of beer a Miller/Coors/Bud drinker would probably find enjoyable. Overall, I really enjoyed the flavorful complexity and smokiness of this beer, and I can guarantee that I’m going to try to find some of this to pair with BBQ at the next cookout we attend or host.
My Rating: 
Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]
March 2, 2013
That sounds delicious! I bet this would go great with a nice pulled pork sandwich.