Three Knocks
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

Well put together brew. Looks like rusty orange tea. Moderate head to thin film, a lot of lace as you go. Malt and caramel nose. Very sweet and malty up front, caramel, sturdy bitterness to finish. Nice transition, pleasant drinking.

 

 

Poured into pint glass from 600ml bottle. Smells like yeast or very dark rye bread. Taste has a pleasant note of hop bitterness and the smallest touch of sour that come together in a very satisfying way. This beer calls out for something salty to eat it with. Label says the beer was bottles on 09/01/17 and is good for 6 months, which means it's 2 months over the use by date, but the taste is fine.

 

 

600 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Oct 2 2017 and served slightly chilled. I really enjoyed their original sticke alt (Festivale Plus) when I sampled it 4-5 years ago. Not sure if this is a re-labelling, an updated recipe, or a totally different brew.

Pours an immaculately clear copper-amber colour, with one finger of light beige-tinted foam gathering atop before receding within the next several minutes or so. A smooth band of thick lacing is deposited in its wake, with a wide, foamy collar also remaining in place. The aroma is rather saccharine, with lots of caramel and toffee. Oak and vanilla also figure in quite strongly, matched up with notes of raisin, prune and boozy fruitcake - it's a decidedly sweet, almost dessert-like aroma that I am admittedly not real big on.

The flavours, on the other hand, are right up my alley. It's still quite malt-forward at first, with toasted bread, biscuits and nutty malts accented by a toffee-like sweetness. Hints of oak wood and vanilla also permeate the profile, with lightly fruity notes of fig and plum coming through mid-sip before a grassy, earthy hop finish that effectively dries out the palate; a touch of oak wood tannin follows through into the aftertaste. Medium in body, with relatively low carbonation that results in a soft, smooth, slightly slick texture. Moderately easy to toss back; the alcohol is barely perceptible, but the flavours are also very well-balanced, resulting in a sort of drinkability stalemate.

Final Grade: 3.95, a B+. Beau's Three Knocks Sticke Alt is a pretty darn good effort, with the oak character adding some much-needed depth to what would otherwise be a pretty unremarkable, mostly malt-dominated brew. This four month-old bottle is more than two-thirds of the way through its 'freshness scale' (side label), but has held up quite well I'd say - don't be afraid to give this one a shot if there's any lingering stock. I'd consider picking it up again next year, even with its premium price point.

 

Poured in to a pilsner glass. Decent collar last well. pours clear and dark brown ale colour. decent nose here of coffee and earthy undertones. Oats last long in taste and feel is smooth. a good find.

From a 600ml bottle, dated 09/01/17. Served in a pub glass.

Pours a translucent honey-maple-brown colour with golden highlights and a finger or so of tight, sudsy ivory head. Quickly settles back to a dense cap with a thick wall of lacing.

Nose is rich, musty and mellow, with porridge, dried lumber and dusty chalkboards.

Taste is sweet and mellow on top and satisfyingly bitter underneath. Toasted cereal grains, apple leather and witch-hazel, thyme, wood ash and a touch of resin at the finish. Starts out sweet and fruity and suddenly ends bone dry and quenching.

Feel is crisp and bright, medium bodied with ample carbonation.

Overall, a smooth and hugely drinkable beer. Tastes like fall.

 

 

Appearance - Pours a copper with three fingers of foamy off-white head.

Smell - biscuity malts, dark fruits (fig, raisin, plum), hint of earthy hops, Quite malty in the aroma.

Taste - Biscuity malts followed by a pungent hit from the dark fruits (fig, raisin, and plum). The earthy hops are there but is dominated by the malts.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth with the malts and dark fruits lingering.

Overall - A pleasant altbier that showcases the malts and sweetness of the dark fruits. Another winner from the folks at Beau's.

Serving: Bottle
Bottled on: Oct-2-2017


A:
Pours a crystal clear ruddy amber with a beautiful,solid three fingers of coffee-ice cream-colored head. Great retention; rocky lacing. (4.25)

S:
Rich, toasty, fall-esque malt aromas. (4)

T:
Follows the nose. More toasty than caramelized but there is definitely some toasted malt sugar flavor in there too. (4)

M:
Mediumish body, drinkable with medium carbonation and a smooth finish. (4)

O:
Nice beer!
It pours a beautiful crystal clear ruby-amber color with a huge tan head.
Both the aroma and flavor are primarily layers of toasted malt (dark bread and caramelized sugars) with a little less of the pepper bite that I've tasted in other Altbier variations. It is still there but in the background.
It is very nice and a good autumnal beer no doubt about it. A nice malt showcase that walks that subtle, suffig, inoffensive, rich-but-light line that certain German styles can walk.
I'd definitely have this one again. (4.25)

600 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Purchased for a steep $7.95 CDN. Batch 6524 and bottled September 1, 2017.

Appearance - Good clarity, a deep amber or honey brown color. Two fingers and change of a dense fluffy off-white / light tan head. Very good head retention as well and some "sticke" lacing at the edges of the glass.

Smell - Very malt forward with loads of caramel and an earthy woodsy undertone. Dark fruits and figs come to mind as well with some dates.

Taste - Quite grainy with a robust combo of dark fruit and figs again. Hints of caramel. Malt bomb but with solid earthy bitterness. Very fall like and appropriate on a damp cool holiday Monday in October. As another reviewer has indicated "Biscuity toffee" is a good way to describe the prevailing flavor of this beer.

Mouthfeel - Medium-heavy bodied, rather dry finish, carbonation is on the low side.

Overall - Despite the high price, I rather like this beer with full flavor, middling bitterness and a warming component that makes this one of Beau's better beers of recent times.

600ml bottle - wow, Beau's Alberta rep is really workin' it of late. So, 'three knocks', as in The Three Knocks of Death? What should I be expecting here?

This beer pours a clear, bright medium red-brick amber colour, with three zaftig fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and mildly creamy tan head, which leaves some grotto cave lace around the glass as it slowly yet surely abates.

It smells of bready and doughy caramel malt, a bit of free-range char, muddled dark pome fruity notes, thin brown sugar syrup, and very laid-back leafy, weedy, and herbal green hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy and bready caramel malt, a hint of biscuity toffee, some still hard to parse bruised fruitiness, subtle wet ash, gritty brown sugar, and more understated leafy, weedy, and woodsy hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its plebeian frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and mostly smooth, with a wee airy creaminess sneaking up on you once things get out of basement fridge temperatures. It finishes on the sweet side, with malt, sugar, and fruit esters ruling the lingering day.

Overall, this is a pleasant enough, if not particularly complex Sticke Alt, especially if you're into the more saccharine side of things. Tasty, and with little to no sign of the extra couple points of the ol' wowee sauce component, I can at least be sanguine should I hear the titular rapping on my door. And extra points for not using a 'sticky' pun in any of the marketing tripe.

 

650ml bottle - decants a lightly hazed cola colored ale with a 1 finger tight pored off white cap - Aroma is demure and not in your face - boiled toasty grains, light herbal tones - has a modest almost thin body and a pleasing malt forward character - Flavor has toasty rich malts in front with a underlying herbal bitterness taming any sweetness - the finish is long, wet drying, bittering appears to dominate - bready0tasty bitter aftertaste. I love Alts - I really love Sticke Alts - I've tasted better but this one is extremely rounded and drinkable - if it has a fault it's a tad thin on the palate for the style.