Honey Basil
Northern Ales & Grocery

Thanks to Sarah and Craus for grabbing this for me while on a road trip. Not sure of the age of this, it may have been sitting in my boxes 'o beer for up to 2 years. Poured into straight pint glass. Poured a medium hazy golden yellow color, with about 3/4 inch of white head that had moderate retention and lacing.

The aroma had a soft grain base, some mild sweetness, no real herb presence, and a slight sour tang, that may or may or not have been intentional. On the tongue, the beer was pretty similar, a bit sweeter across the palate, and the sourness on the finish was much stronger. While not not completely terrible, the sour wasn't completely enjoyable either.

The body was decent, smooth and even, although a bit sticky-sweet. Drinkability was OK, once I adapted to the sourness at the back of the tongue. Overall, While I didn't think the sourness helped the beer, it was a solidly decent brew. I'd like to try a fresh batch, and if I do, I'll update my review.

The brewer poured this at Huck's. He said it was 13% ABV. Brewer also claims this to be in the style of a Braggot.

Honey colored with no evidence of carbonation save a few bubbles at the rim. Brilliant clarity. Smells like mead, sweet mead and a hint of basil. Flavor is heavy on the basil and sweet honey with alcohol and some diacytal buttery flavor. Thin with low carb and a semi dry finish. Forgettable and not worth the second try this one constituted.

 

This was a favorite homebrew recipe of the brewer and his friends before Northern Ales opened to the public. It is a variation of a recipe culled from The Homebrewer’s Garden by Joe and Dennis Fisher. It’s also easily the best of the four beers I tried during my brief visit to Northport. Its warm yellow color glows elegantly in the stemmed wineglass they serve it in. The thoughtful glassware, gentle cap of suds, and galloping carbonation all contribute to a visual presentation of some refinement. The fragrance is minty but also holds an earthy garden herb quality.

With twelve pounds of honey in a 20-gallon batch of beer, you’d think honey might play a defining role in the taste. I noted no identifying imprint from the honey other than the huge influx of fermentable sugars that take Honey Basil to 9.5% ABV. For that matter, I didn’t pick up on anything that clearly originated with basil. Instead, a taste of ginger spice determines the beer’s overall character, as an apparent result of some symbiotic convergence of all the beer’s ingredients.