Special Bitter
Nibble Bit Tabby

Draft pour into a shaker pint glass at Eagle Rock Brewery tasting room.

A: Clear, light amber color with one finger of diminishing off-white foam head. Moderate lacing remains on the glass.

S: Weak, with savory herbs and some honeysuckle that diminishes to even more weak phantom hay after a few minutes.

T: Begins just off-dry, with strong grainy toast and herbaceous hops that are sharply astringent to the point of being off-putting. Acidity is mild at first, but cutting by the end of the glass. The astringency recedes by the middle, and malt becomes more honeyed pilsner. The finish sees the emergence of faint green tea, the marriage of malty honey to toast, bitterness that is slightly floral and earthy, and a return of the early astringency that lingers to the last.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, wet and slightly acidic on the palate, with moderate carbonation.

D/O: Hopefully this beer is a work in progress; it shows potential in its bold and unapologetic handling of big pale malt flavors, but it also has a nagging thread of astringency that, while possible to grow accustomed to, is likely to dissuade some drinkers at the first taste. It reminds of the beers of Noble Brewing of Anaheim--if not in stylistic similarity, then in the way it makes one think that it would be so much better, if not for one particular off-putting quality. Generally, American-brewed bitters are consistent but forgettable--whether they are brewed by Sierra Nevada, Russian River, or a notable brewpub like Triple Rock in Berkeley. This has a bold and rustic presence imparted by its dynamic malt bill that should be preserved, but its brewer really needs to solve the puzzle of its astringency that is a little bit convulsion-inducing upon first encounter.