Select #3
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

 

i am all in favor of these guys branching out from all wild beer all the time, and the first few in this series have been outstanding, but this is definitely a step back, not quite up to their high standards, in my opinion. its very strongly flavored, heavy char and dark barley notes to the base, some chocolate there, but a boatload of hops that really dont flatter it much. it seems a little less refined too, almost gritty with sediment, and exceedingly bitter in the finish. i have since had the coffee baltic porter, which i found to be sensational, so perhaps this was somewhat of a learning experience, which i fully support, but the beer isnt one of their best, the aroma might be the best part, more pine than bitter from the hops there, and with a richness of sweetened coffee and melted chocolate, starts off promising, but the huge loads of hops take over way too quickly in the taste, and the thing falls apart (at least in my opinion), and i taste it forever, lots of hoppy burps. i appreciate the experiment, but i wont be drinking this one again i dont think...