Funky Dunkel
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

cool style hybrid here, a dunkel lager at its core, but its also a wild beer, and its aged in bourbon barrels, incredibly unique and sort of almost a biere de garde to me, even though there are obvious differences, thats how it presents. deep amber to mahogany in color, a little bit dense looking, and with a short khaki head on it from the tap that settles quickly. aroma is whiskey forward and quite piquant, long boiled malt and cooked sugar against citric acidity and warming oak, hearty and autumnal with a lot going on. nuances of chestnut and raisin, tangy red wine, and sweet orange, perhaps a little light smoke here too, and just a light trace of a european lager yeast still in tact. the flavor is similar, fruity through most of it, vinous and sharp, with some sweetness running most of the way, it hasnt totally lost its dunkel identity, at least from the malt side, and has become more of a malty sour thing, some funk to it, a bracing acidity, and as it warms almost a flanders element with a hint of vinegar character. nice body and overall structure to this, raisin and fallen leaves and oak, sweet and tangy at the same time, weird and unlike anything else ive had, a head scratcher but a cool exploratory effort. was so good to spend some time at crooked stave while we were in town, they remain one of my favorites!