Wolpertinger 2017
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company - Midtown Brewery & Biergarten

 

 

 

Pours dark brown. Smells like berries and some smoke, tastes like tart berries. My wife said it tasted like cleaner but I really liked the smoke and tart berry combination. Light feel, strange beer but I like it.

Body is dark brown but at first you wouldn't know it because tons of submerged clear bubbles crowd the edge of the glass in a weird way, obstructing the view of the body. On top is a large, foamy tan head dying to lumps and leaving tons of random arms on the glass.

At first, the smell reminds me of old lady perfume...with a touch of lavender. Then raspberry, heavy roast and bitter cocoa thankfully push that aside.

Taste has a nice roast and cocoa flavor with some coffee and tart raspberry. Quite tangy, the sweet raspberry builds and builds, while it also exhibits some wine barrel elements. To be clear, this is basically a sour, but on the softer end, while still a bit acidic.

Medium body, crisp fizz, tangy and slightly sticky, with a semi-dry, sour finish.

This kind of reminds me of Professor Black, a favorite sour stout of mine, but it's not as roasty, nor is it as sour. The scotch barrel does not make itself evident at all, thank god.

This beer is marketed as tart and aged 2 years in Scotch whiskey barrels. Neither of those are characteristics that I seek out. This is Urban Chestnut's anniversary beer and it is different every year as well.
330mL Belgian stubby bottle poured into a tulip glass at 45 degrees F 8% ABV 20 IBU. The beer pours dark drown but not black with no light penetrating even the edges of the glass. The head is light brown with red hues and lacing is covering 50% of the glass as enjoyed. The aroma is Scotch with some smoked aspects as well. The first taste is tart cherries, not over done, transitioning to smooth roast and chocolate malt depth with whiskey overtones. Mouthfeel is medium fullness, moderate carbonation and a pleasant and clean finish leaving no one note above the others. Overall, very good. Recommended if this is your style, because it's very good at two things that typically turn me off.

From a stubby little bottle, this brew is a dark brown with a tan foamy head. The aroma is a great mix of raspberry and dark malt. The raspberry has a pie-like character. The taste is semi-dry and very fruity...Nice bitterness in the mid-taste and it finishes with huge raspberry flavor. Dark chocolate and berry seeds. It hides it's ABV very well. Full and enjoyable.