Archive for the category “Herbed-Spiced Beer”

28 May 2013

Lower Dens – Stillwater Sensory Series, Vol.1 – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

stillwater_Bttl6% ABV
Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($6.99?/12.7 oz. bottle) and poured into tasting glasses.

This “ale brewed with hibiscus” pours a clear, pale yellow with a bountiful bone-white head and a nose of citrus, grass, flowers, Sour Patch candy, and a subtle farmhouse funk.  It’s marvelously refreshing on the first swallow, with a just a prickle of sour citrus cutting through the balanced barnyard sweetness.  The hibiscus flowers enter the frame on the superbly dry finish, along with clove-heavy Belgian yeast, cracker-y notes, and a touch of honeydew melon.  This stellar “Vol. 1” of Stillwater’s Sensory Series (each bottle comes w/ a QR code that when scanned links to the “full sensory experience” – i.e., a 13-minute psychedelic jam by Baltimore indie rockers Lower Dens), is light and drinkable, but packed with complex flavors and spices.

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

Stillwater_Hibiscus

toasts-4   4 Toasts

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06 Feb 2012

Blind Spot (High Water Brewing)

8.2% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($4.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into mugs.

His Notes:

The very curious Blind Spot pours black with amber highlights and a fluffy tan head.  It has an abnormally heavy and earthy nose containing chicory, sassafras, and licorice root, very similar to an old-fashioned root beer.  Blind Spot’s taste follows suit – there is very little in the way of traditional malty/hoppy flavors offered, but rather more chicory and root flavors with a strong and silky menthol finish.  It’s more similar in taste, aroma, and color to a natural root beer than an American black ale, and as much as I like the bold attempt, I doubt I will ever be compelled to sample this brew again.

  2 1/2 Toasts

Her Notes:

  2 Toasts


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