Kanzu Farmhouse Ale With Rwandan Coffee
Mystic Brewery

Pours cloudy with a burnished brass color and a healthy, chunky white foam head. The head falls in a few minutes leaving a covering layer of bubbles,with some chunkier rafts. Not amazing to look at, but not bad. It has been in the house a while, probably six months or so.

Aroma of coffee, Belgian spiciness, and I get a bit of vanilla. As it warms, a decent caramel aroma emerges.

The taste is interesting with the blend of typical farmhouse ale "Belgian-ness" opposite a fairly bright and light coffee flavor that is a little acrid and charred while adding a bit of acidity. The tastes wash back and forth, leaving a spiced coffee aftertaste that lingers pleasantly.

The feel is different. It is dry like a saison, yet it is a bit creamy as well.

It is an interesting brew. It isn't complicated, yet I feel like it should take more unraveling and I keep looking for more with each sip. But it is just what it says..farmhouse ale with coffee infused. Pleasant drinking.

Bottle acquired at the brewery 8/12/17 (no date stamp)

Pours a lightly hazed orange with a head that looks as if it's about to fizzle away, but manages to stick around as a bubbly ring. Rustic, spicy yeast and bright fruity coffee bean aromas. Coffee bean, red berries, pear, cherry, clove, and light sweet bread. Super crisp, frothy medium-light body. A creative pairing of a fun, fruity coffee variety and peppery Belgian yeast.

 

Pours a hazy copper color with a finger of bubbly off-white head. The head is gone instantly and leaves very little lacing.

The aroma is very coffee forward, with notes of caramel, bread, and spicy yeast.

The taste starts off with banana, spicy yeast and sweet bread, and is finished off with some smooth coffee notes. Very interesting.

The feel is light bodied with a ton of carbonation. Extremely crisp and dry. Leaves a bitter coffee aftertaste.

Overall, a solid and interesting farmhouse ale. The coffee is strong but not overpowering.

 

375ml bottle, sample purchased at brewery.

Deep golden amber hue, nice clarity and some beautiful lacing as well. Smells of cold brewed coffee, bready malt, and a bit of earthy spice from the yeast. Crisp with a moderate sized body, peppery and mildly phenolic. Coffee hits around the middle and into the finish, quite mild with more a earthy berry flavor and not much roast which works better in this beer IMO. Unique for a coffee flavored brew, it works from start to finish ... a nice departure from the usual.

 

L: Poured a beautiful golden-amber color with a thick, frothy head on top. A fair amount of tiny bubbles are climbing to the top of the glass. There's a good amount of light coming through the glass, but it is not entirely see through.

S: The coffee comes through nicely. It is layered on top of your traditional farmhouse qualities: some pepper spiciness, Belgian yeast, and some sweet banana aromas.

T: Tastes like a dry, bitter coffee. Floral notes finish the taste off after pretty smooth balance between the roastiness of the coffee and the spiciness of the style of beer.

F: It initially begins with a combination of a very dry yet very bubbly mouthfeel. The body is good and it maintains carbonation throughout the entire sip.

O: This beer is all about balance. The characteristically dry qualities of a farmhouse ale blend nicely with the traditionally burnt, roasted qualities of coffee. Like a coffee IPA, this coffee-infused farmhouse ale rides the fine line between two distinct styles and passes with elegance.

 

 

 

 

12.68 oz. bottle

Pours turbid dark amber orange with a creamy off-white foam head. Smells like caramel, bready malt, banana, clove, big dark roasted coffee beans, with some fruity earthy herbal notes. Tastes like banana, clove spice, caramel, bready malt, fresh dark coffee grounds, with some berry, plum, and woody earthy herbal notes. Feels medium-light bodied, smooth with moderate low carbonation. Overall a nice coffee saison.

Small cork-topped bottle served in a sampler glass. Beer initially pours pale golden in color, but later turns sludgy, with yeast stirred up from the bottom. Farmhouse flavor is very manageable, not too funky at all. What really shines through here is the coffee, which adds its own sort of fruitiness to the brew. The bold coffee flavor is quite surprising coming out of deceptive out of this pale beverage. Interesting and worth a try.

This beer is brewed with Kanzu, Rwandan coffee from George Howell Coffees, Acton, MA.

Poured a cloudy apricot color with a very thick 3F head. The head appearance was not uniform, and had an interesting appearance.

Aroma: one of the strongest coffee aromas from any coffee beer I have tasted. The coffee is roasted by George Howell coffee roasters, who is a well- respected coffee guru and one of the " founders" of the better coffee movement which started in the 80's. I used to buy coffee from his coffee store, Coffee Connection, which sold out to Starbucks.

The body is a little light but this can work for the style.

The aroma transitions to the taste, along with some fruit and berry. However, the coffee character is not as strong as in the aroma.

Spicy, tart finish.

Mystic brews excellent beers with great character. Too bad this is limited. Worth checking out.