It’s nearing the end of the second week of my new job. It’s still a bit overwhelming… Sort of like being thrown in to a foreign country – learning a new language, culture, and geography. After getting home and putting together some new furniture my wife bought, I decided to crack open this craftbeer that was sent to me by my friend Betty, who moved to Tacoma, WA last year. The bottle says it’s “small batch brewed” and it was bottled on 2/19/14.
Location: Poured from a 22oz bottle into a large Sam Adams Perfect pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 5.4% ABV, 40 IBUs, ~130 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s very black in color, and I couldn’t see any highlights when I held it up to the light. It has a very, very nice sized, creamy, tan head on it, with excellent retention and lacing. It has a dark, roasty malt aroma.
Taste & Feel: The body is light, and the mouth feel is smooth, and slightly creamy from the head. There’s a roasty, slightly bitter, dark cocoa flavor up front. The middle is very smooth, making for a good transition to the roasty malt finish. The finish also has some dark cocoa and coffee notes in the background. The roasty, coffee and dark cocoa flavors last for a minute or so in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: The dark, roasty flavors would probably go best with a steak, playing off of the char from the grill. Despite th fact that it has dark flavors, the body is light and would easily help to wash down a hearty steak.
Overall Impression: This beer is light in body, but roasty in flavor, which reminded me a bit of Guinness. However, this beer had a bit more of a roasty character. It was still pretty drinkabout and had good flavors, but I would have like a bit less bold roastiness. Overall, it was still a pretty good beer with mostly roasty and dark cocoa flavors. Thanks to my friend Betty for sending me this beer and letting me try it. I hope to get out there and visit her again and try a few more from this brewery.
My Rating: 
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