Zehn Von Zehn
DC Brau Brewing Co.

 

 

 

My maternal aunt & her husband have been in DC since I was a wee one & I have visited our nation's capitol almost as often as PHL & a few other world cities. As I grew older, more independent & a whole lot more anarchical, I was given greater autonomy to explore & do my own thing. I still have a place to stay, but when they are out of town, I will CouchSurf or find a local Youth Hostel with an available bunk. Such was the case as my Pens played the Caps in Game 5, which the former lost on the way to their eventual Stanley Cup victory. I awoke the following morning, checked out & hit the nearby liquor store which was just opening for the day. I know how to scour for CANQuest (tm) CANs & I was on the prowl when I spotted this mixed-six. I inquired of the proprietor if there was a limit. "Pheh! My son accepts these from the distributor while I am away! They don't move. Limit? Your credit card!" 8=O! I was stunned, but reserved myself to one for me & one for my returning in-person trader, tone77.

From the CAN: "proudly brewed as a collaboration between dc brau & port city brewing [...] celebrating 5 years of bringing fresh brew to the washington dc area"; "'Zehn von Zehn' is DC Brau and Port City's take on a traditional German style Dunkel. The name, which translates to '10 by 10,' references Washington, DC's original 10 mile by 10 mile border that included all of Alexandria, VA. Both breweries opened their doors just weeks apart in 2011."

I recently washed a couple of Mason jar-like glasses with handles that I won in a CANtest & I decided to give one of them a test run with this beer. I am also starting to come to the CANclusion that an inverted Glug is not always the best course of action. I Crack!ed open the CAN and CANducted a gentle Glug, forming a finger of soapy, light-tan head that quickly faded to wisps. Color was a gorgeous Dark Brown to Very Dark brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & garnet highlights. Nose smelled strongly of nuts, milk chocolate & biscuit malt. Enrico's ChocoNut biscotti from Pixburgh's Strip District! Mmmm. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was JUST like that biscotti, fresh from the oven & sliced while you wait! I used to hang out by the doorway, awaiting the latest batch to be brought to the counter, at which time, I would pounce like a cat. The milk chocolate taste was up front & immediate, followed by the nuttiness & underlain by the biscuit malt. Mmmm, yummy! I CAN drink something like this all day without missing hops. Finish was semi-sweet, close to semi-dry, very chocolaty, very nutty, very tasty. Please make this again!

A thanks to the captain of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a very dark brown color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts, a bit nutty. Taste is bready malts, molasses, nuts. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a tasty and quality beer.

 

 

Chestnut body with a thin beige collar. Aromas of brown bread, ripe fruit, light spice, caramel malt. Similar flavor. Light sweetness with notes of brown sugar. Tasty.

 

Cool to find this, there are never enough dunkels. I taste a lot of familiar brown malts, but this is cleaner, more crisp and drinkable than your average brown ale. It's a toffee and toast beer with a little ground coffee and caramel. I'd be happy going through a six-pack.

 

 

Dark brown with ruby color around the edges. Fleeting light tan head the quickly settled into a wispy cap. The nose was subtle toast, wheat, cherry, and some cocoa. More cocoa on the taste, with brown bread, nuttiness, and a mild bitterness. Actually a ringing clean bitterness on the finish.

Poured from a 12 oz can into a tulip.
L - poured s dark red (almost black) with a tan head.
S - smells like a chocolate Porter.
T - tastes like an ESB.
F - very light carbonation.
O- interesting beer. I would drink it again.

 

 

Pours a medium brown that settles into the glass with a chestnut colored body and a big fluffy tan head. Aroma is nutty, earthy, hints of toast and sweetness and a slight metallic aroma. Flavor is big and toasty, lots of nuttiness, some earthiness. Very robust flavors for the abv and style. Feel is much fuller than I would have expected. Slightly tingling carbonation with a lingering aftertaste. Really nice take on the style, drinks bigger than I would have thought.