XOXO Doppelsticke Altbier
Rust Belt Brewing Company

A: Dark, dark reddish brown with garnet edges. It turns a deep ruby when held to light and it is completely clear with lots of slowly rising bubbles. Small light tan head that quickly settles to a ring that sticks around, but doesn’t really leave any lace. Acceptable look for a bigger beer.

S: Very firmly malty and sweet. Strong hints of jam-like dark fruits. Faint whiff of alcohol. No hops noticed. Reasonable aroma strength overall.

T: Quite malty & quite sweet – especially up front. Just a few hints of bread crust & toasty bread. However, there is a surprising amount (for an alt) of roasty malt notes. Sort of a bitter-sweet roast grain/malt impression mostly. Estery dark fruit notes increase as it warms. Some balancing herbal & earthy hops push through at the end. Roast really comes out in the finish. Rich, sweet, malty, and with strong roasty & fruity notes.

M: A medium plus body with carbonation a bit under-matched in a way that it seems heavier than it really is – quite a rich feel overall. It becomes increasingly drying with each drink from the combined effects of alcohol, balancing hops, and the roasty malt notes.

D: A rather dark strong alt. Distinctly sweet and malty, but also with a very noticeable roast quality and a quite firm dark fruity (& sweet) impact as well. Really hides its abv. I’m not sure it is entirely to style, but then I don’t know it isn’t. What I do know is that is is a tasty and good drinking brew.