Rob Moore Abbey Ale
Carter's Brewing

 

not retired, on tap at the brewery recently when i was in. built like a belgian dubbel with what must be some added dark candy sugar to enrich this. its a nice beer, mellow and well made, the yeast is somewhat subtle in the nose and taste, restrained some, nicely temperature controlled im sure. the recipe is somewhat simple it seems, the abbey type malt and the dark sugar leading the flavor, with the yeast esters behind it. i get things like port wine, raisin, and prune out of it, but also molasses, maple syrup, and toffee. its sweet but its also grainy enough to seem balanced to me, and there is a nice little drying tannic layer in the fermentation profile that cuts through. subtle banana, clove, pepper, and even vanilla notes to this, smooth and somewhat light in body for the style, and very autumnal to me, warming and good. its not too sweet or weighty to be drinkable in multiples, as the style sometimes is, and overall this is another really well done belgian type from carters, who impresses me so much every time!

Pours a half finger of light brown head over a cldouy dark brown liquid. Smells phenolic, chocolate, dusty, cinnamon, brewer's licorice, blackberry, and mild clean alcohol.

Tastes dominated by sour (lactic?) with chocolate underneath and a nice biscuity malt finish. Blackberry, cumin, anise, and nice grassy hop character. Md light body and modest carbonation. The lactic sour is just too much.