Burdisson's Dwarven Ale
Fantasy Brewmasters

Pours a rich, dark brown with just a little light getting through at the edges. A big, fluffy, tan head subsides to a rocky film, fairly thick at the edges, leaving some decent lacing behind.
Smell is sweet, chocolate milk, roasted malt, vanilla, caramel. Very well balanced with a welcome complexity. Reminiscent of an oatmeal stout - which I love - in some aspects but still an English brown.
Taste is roasted malt with an unexpected tartness, almost vinegary (albeit subtly) in nature, some dark chocolate and nothing else. A bit of a letdown after that wonderful nose. Here it reminds me of a sour, another favorite style of mine. But odd.
Watery, lightish body, lightly effervesced. Not bitter, this brew is a bit all over the map. Sweet in nose, sour in taste, with roast malt throughout. A bit hard to put your finger on. Overall a good beer but it would be better if the nose and mouth got something similar, not such wildly divergent experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked this up in Orlando, FL a few months ago.

Chilled bottle into a stemmed tulip pint. No visible bottling date.

Look- Pours a rich deep brown, near opaque. Three fingers of frothy beige head that sticks around for quite a while, very nice lacing. By the look of the bottom of the bottle, this one was bottle-conditioned, but I don't see any mention of it on the bottle.

Smell- Wow. Pretty nice, better than expected for a pseudo-gimmicky brew. Fairly sweet, led by toffee and vanilla but also touches of dark roast coffee, baker's chocolate, and toasted brown bread.

Taste- Quite similar to the nose, black coffee and treacle lead the way with a stronger feel of biscuit and nutty malts. Something of an old ale twang mixes it up with a hint of astringency from the char flavor. As it warms, the toasted brown bread flavor becomes stronger and the coffee pulls all the way through the finish, rather than making way for nuttier flavors.

Mouthfeel- Much lighter than expected, and in a welcome way. Medium body, medium carbonation, light feel for the style. Above average drinkability, I could have a few.

Overall- Pretty nice, and I wasn't really expecting too much. Very nice balance between rich flavor and quaffabilty. I also get the impression that this is a blended beer with some portion of old ale a la Guiness, which lightens it a bit and adds a bit of flair. I don't recall what I paid for it, but I'd certainly revisit it if I spotted it again.

Brewed at Butternuts.

Burdisson's Dwarven Ale is a surprisingly interesting beer. I'm not 100% certain it's supposed to be this interesting... I just had to buy it when I saw it because I'm a huge nerd and the D&D theming really appealed to me. It pours out a hazy brown with tons of floaties. The aroma is full of coffee and chocolate malt and ... is that just a little hint of a sour twang? The taste confirms the suspicions from the nose, with a nice coffee and chocolate malt going on with a very lightly sour finish that works well enough with the coffee to where it's hard to tell if it's an infection or intentional. The mouthfeel is light for the style, but it works with the light sourness, and the drinkability is actually very good. I'm not sure if this is an accident gone right or the brewer's intended flavor, but I rather like Burdisson's Dwarven Ale. The hint of sourness makes it taste just a bit rustic, suiting the beer's theme.