Saturday, February 4, 2012

Holy Friar Tuck!

For this review, I am going blind. I've never had a thing from this brewery, I've never researched them, and have heard little to nothing about them. Leasea picked these up for me on a recent East Coast swing. I'll let my review do the talking for my impressions, but there were absolutely ZERO biases, which was fun.

Review #7
Weyerbacher Merry Monk's Ale  9.3% ABV
Weyerbacher Brewery in Easton, PA   12 oz brown bottle poured into Chimay glass

A - This one pours a cloudy orange, reminiscent of a pumpkin. Small layer of white laced head. There is some sediment floating around but it settled nicely in little time

S - WHOA! Huge aroma here. I am being bombarded by such powerful smells, its tough to place them immediately. I know it sounds strange, but I am getting bananas & nuts, therefore my first thought was banana nut bread. Weird. Getting past that, there are vanilla and grapefruit tones underlying a definite ester blast. There is a also a big, spicy sparkle that hits you in waves amongst all that. Crazy experience.

T - Crisp and bubbly, the carbonation hits immediately. Wheat and berries, pepper and clove. Alcohol for certain, but not a heat per se. No crazy aftertaste lingering like you'd normally have a from a big ABV Belgian either. Okay, 30 minutes in, I have added some more notes. It has a white wine finish; tart, with Granny Smith apples abundant.

M - Despite the shocking carbonation hit, it fades quickly and leaves a smoother feel overall. Finishes a bit sour, but rich.

D - Loads of fruit, spice and natural grains--this has bags of character. Its complex, balanced and wonderful. I couldn't recommend drinking this regularly however, because it isn't an EASY drink, but that doesn't mean its bad. Quite the opposite in fact, it really is fantastic. Great first impression from a complete unknown, I'll definitely be on the lookout in the future.

Cheers,
Chris

1 comment:

mbutler said...

Wow! That sounds like quite the tasting! Have to look for that aound these parts.