Lokomotiv Merlot
8 Wired Brewing Co.

 

From the bottle in a snifter. This unique little brew pours a
deep obsidian with a nice head of brown foam that settles to
a thick ring, thin clumping layer, and shows nice lacing. Nose
of deep wine notes, oak, hints of soy, black and raspberry,
black strap molasses, and moderate char. Flavors surpass the
nose with aplomb; deep raspberry and blackberry notes, moderate
char, faint cream, oak, grape must, dark cocoa, light soy, light
anise, and black strap molasses (which in and of itself is a
bitter malt). Nice mouth feel; full body, low carbonation,
and a dry wine like finish laden with char and cocoa.

Overall----another excellent brew from a great little
brewery!

Cheers

Found this at Susan’s Wine Shop in Santa Fe, NM.

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Very dark brown color with a decent initial brown head but little lacing. Spicy merlot smell and taste, kind of tangy. Flavors of dark chocolate, dark berries and with a very nice dark roasted malt finish. This is a beer you want to let warm some. Warm flavors of vanilla and caramel come forward. It is excellent with cheese and crackers!

 

L: A pitch black brew floats a two finger espresso foam head which fades quickly to a lingering half height. Some clumpy lacing.

S: Roast and molasses, anise, jammy and earthy Merlot comes in and some coffee bitterness.

T: More dark roast, drier on the tongue, and tart dark fruits, after which the taste follows the nose.

F: Medium weight, low carbonation, dry and bitter.

O: While this all sounds good writing it out, I expect some heartburn, and overall the flavors did not meld as expected and the worst of these stood out the most.

I purchased this beer for two reasons: (1) It’s from New Zealand and I don’t believe I’ve ever had a beer from that country; (2) I was intrigued by a stout aged in red wine barrels.

Just a slight hiss when cracking the cap.

Look: The beer pours dark brown from the bottle. It’s black and opaque in the glass. Medium brown colored foam that disappears. No lacing but some legs after swirling.

Smell: Pretty complex nose. A lot of molasses. This note pointed out by my wife. Didn’t hit me until she said it. Quite dominant. Roasted malt with some bright and acidic dark fruit notes of plum, tart cherry and blackberry. A deep inhale yields some woody, earthy, mushroom like umami notes that inches across the line of being meaty. Dark chocolate covered raspberry jelly rings. No indications of 11% ABV on the nose. Very nice stout aroma accented and complemented by the red wine treatment.

Taste: The tip of the tongue gets some sweet and tart berry. Raspberries and blackberries. Sweet ripe berry and that harder, under ripe, more tart berry. Mid palate and on the finish I get a lot of wood. Semi sweet chocolate. Bitter and berry forward coffee. Dark chocolate bitterness lingers on the finish which dries out a lot. Char, toast and smoke.

Overall: Sometimes reviewing beer feels like work. This beer inspires me to work for the review. There are so many enjoyable aspects to this beer I just don’t want it to end.

Dark rich chocolate, piquant vinous berries, red Merlot wine, oak barrel, vanilla, caramel sweetness