Pallet Mallet
Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing

Cracked open a pint can and poured it into a clear Imperial pint mug. The liquid is a bright amber, not clear, but closer to translucent than opaque. There's only a little lasting head upon completion of the pour. It smells malty and hoppy, but it's not pungent. There's a decent malt body which starts the taste off sweetly. As the transition to hop flavors begin, a blast of alcohol almost burns the tongue. Yes, no one should expect something with an 11.9 % ABV to have little taste of it. But, this is rough to the point that even a triple hopped beer with sufficient malt can't overcome it. Unfortunately, there's too little taste of the hops that can finally come through in the finish. Even there, the alcohol pushes the sweetness of the malt a little too far. People who enjoy whiskey or other spirits may have a taste for this, but this is probably not for those that just drink beer. This puts a mallet to a pallet, but it's mostly alcohol, not hops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a 13 oz Weyerbacher tulip glass canned recently. Pours a very attractive dark amber with a 3 finger off white head that leaves behind streaks of lace.

Smell is apricot, caramel , biscuit, toffee, pine resin, and grapefruit rind.

Taste follows apricot, caramel, and toffee upfront leads to biscuit, pine, and grapefruit.

Mouthfeel is big, plenty of life, not really dry, and this is almost 12% ABV, never would have known.

Overall this is excellent, but DIPA no. Barleywine or Strong Ale would make more sense for me. Just as malty as hoppy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good beer. Some bitterness. Taste stays with for a while