Small Batch Hoarders: Mélange Noir
The Bruery

 

 

 

 

 

Look: very dark ruby. Slight tan head on the pour.
Smell: coconut, dark fruit, bourbon, oak.
Taste: much like the nose, something slightly tart like cherry.

 

 

A: Poured into a snifter to a black beer with some ruddy brown edges topped by a half finger of dense light tan head which fades quickly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of intense oak, chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, vanilla, coffee, and red wine with some red red berries mixed with some dark fruits
T: Taste is coconut, vanilla, dark fruits, caramel, toffee, chocolate and coffee, roasted malts, and a hint of licorice. On the finish there's some wine barrel followed by more oak, caramel, vanilla, coconut, dark fruits, and toasted malts.
M: This beer has a medium amount of body with carbonation that is somewhat effervescent and bordering on prickly while the ABV ensures that this one has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is an interesting beer. It's somewhat boozy and a little hot if you aren't careful but it does pack an incredible amount of flavor and complexity. It's pretty well balanced but I feel that the wine barrel doesn't do much on the taste compared to the bourbon barrel. The base beers add some nice notes though which make this one interesting to try if you can find it.

 

32oz growler poured into a tulip glass. The growler was only a few hours old. Serving temperature not measured, but seemed to cold for this beer. I would recommend a 55 degree serving temperature.

The beer is dark brown, with an off white small frothy head, with mostly diminishes. The beer is fairly murky.

The initial nose was big caramel, reminiscent of older anniversary ales from The Bruery, cherry and barrel notes come through as it warms, also some subtle nuttiness. Some chocolate as well.

In the flavor the cherry and barrel notes take center stage. The caramel is a balanced flavor. There are also some dark fruit flavors that kick in.

This is a medium body beer, which is also syrupy and sticky. leading to a nice dry finish.

Overall, this is the type of beer that is in The Bruery's wheel house. If you like beers like Melange #3, then you will probably like this one too.