Iron Monger
Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

 

Foggy dark brown with a thickly dense tan blanket settling to a fine film and curled ring clinging in short arches.

Perfectly malty of a pleasantly dark breadiness to start, the exhale brings up toastier cacao and tobacco. As it warms, a little fruity ester emerges, but so too does a contrast of coffee.

The smooth medium body has a lightly fluffy carbonation and finishes just dry

 

 

dry and a bit tough to drink though on the style

 

 

This brew was served on tap at Kuhnhenn in Warren, Michigan. It arrived in a generic pint glass, showing a deep Tootsie Roll brown coloring, and boasting a half finger tall head of light tan bubbles. Spots of lacing were left around the glass following a mediocre retention. Light haze cut clarity, but no sediment was noted. Carbonation appeared to be light. The beer smelled of dark chocolate malts, huge cigarette and campfire smokiness, molasses, smooth toasty oats, burnt chocolate covered espresso beans, slick booziness, white sugar sweetness, glossy print paper, plastic phenols, chalky chocolate powders, burnt caramel, and a final cloy of crème brûlée candied sweetness. Very rich. The following flavor was composed of dulled mallow sweetness, hard fruit candy, sticky caramels and toffees, sea salt, soy sauce, stainless steel, white sugar, gingerbread toast, foamy plastics, lime, cranberry and dark cherry juiciness, chalky chocolate malst, sweet coffee and hot cocoa, sweet sherry vinegar, basement mustiness, and a light finishing of fusel alcohol. The body was medium, and carbonation was a bit light. Each sip gave otherwise nice cream and froth, decent slurp, smack, and pop, and was left mildly coated and warmed by the end of it. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank back nicely.

Overall, there were a couple of things that intrigued us about this beer. Firstly, the nose was much deeper and warmer than expected, with intense smokiness riding high against a rich and complex cloying sweetness ranging from dark chocolate to burnt candy sugars. This set the stage nicely for the flavor, invigorating the sense. The second surprise, unfortunately, is that this aspect of the beer didn’t really deliver as well. The flavor was dull at times, holding onto very little of that smoke or cloy. While those flavors alone or in excess wouldn’t be desirable, it just left the palate wanting here, making the balance seem ever so off and incomplete. That said, there was a lot going on, and the drink was ultimately a pleasantly sippable offering. We just wish that the rest of the beer could have lived up to the reputation set by that aroma.