The Bradley Effect
Earth Bread + Brewery

 

A- pours a really dark black with a little bit of off white head
S- coca cola, some light piney spices , malt,
T- alot lighter than it looks, coc acola notes, some pine smells and it finishes with a touch of hops
M- really nice, very pleasant carbonation
D- I love low abv beers, this one tastes great and is under 4 percent... home run with me

On tap at the brewery. Pours a dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma of chestnuts, stew, and light flowers. Flavor of roasted malt, spices, very stewy, and nice. This reminded me of Stone/Nogne/Jolly Pumpkin Holiday Ale. Very flavorful and interesting. Full-bodied too.
7/4/8/4/15 (3.8/5)

Served on-tap at the Mt. Airy brewpub.

A: The ale is black, dark and mysterious with a white head that pools into a thin band. Up close, fuller brown colors emerge.

S: The nose is malty, thick with a peat-like smokiness and lots of heather. The heather is floral, fragrant with a sweet finish.

T: The taste is a nice continuation of the nose, showing off both the dark malts and floral aspects. The dark malts have a smoky undertone, full with just a hint of peat flavor. Caramel is prevalent, sweetening up the thick taste. Rather than hops, the ale is flavored with a floral melange, robust but sweet. The biggest element that I note is heather, flowery with a sweet finish. The complexity of the smoked malts and heather works nicely.

M: The mouthfeel is tainted with just a touch of smokiness before relinquishing to the caramel flavors. Hop-like preservatives add a floral flavor that jumps off the tastebuds.

D: I think that this is my 2nd favorite (Berkun's Finger takes top honors) from the current Earth line-up. An adventurous ale that doesn't disappoint.

The Bradley Effect is a theory to describe the differences between voter opinion polls and actual outcomes. I understand how it relates to the season but uncertain the relevance to the beer. Either way clever name and adventuresome beer.

They list it as a Black Gruit. Gruit is a herb mixture used for bittering and preserving beer before the use of hops became pervasive.

As for this beverage.

A: A deep pure brown almost black beverage. Hazy clarity. Two finger head with moderate head retention. Tiny bubbles can be seen cascading in the glass. Fairly impressive looking beverage.

S: I could smell pine, birch/aromatic wood, gin like aroma of juniper. Some roasted grain and toasted nut character as well. Complex and quite unique. I enjoyed it and will admit have no frame of reference for comparison.

T: Very similar to the aroma. Starts with the pine and evergreen flavors described above. The roast grains comes in and bitters the palate further. Not sweet. Dry, alka seltzer like finish. I did not enjoy drinking it as much as I did smelling it.

M: Thin, fizzy. Head retention good but the fizz of the carbonation is not appealing.

D: Fair to average beer. This is very unique and challenging beer to both make and enjoy. I felt it needed a more malty backbone.