Monk In Mexico
Martin City Brewing Company

a crazy beer, an american made belgian quad, spiked with agave nectar either instead of or in addition to the more traditional candy sugar gravity spike, and aged in tequila barrels. i think the base beer is a little thin, lacking on the old world malt depth, and certainly sugary, but the tequila barrels are an awesome and highly unconventional touch in this style, and the beer is very good overall, creativity earns you a lot of points with me, and the flaws that i think are here are less important than how ambitious this is. the tequila is so strong in the nose, lots of wood and raw agave brightness, lush and vegetal, almost like aloe or something, sort of cooling in its sweet heat, a real juxtaposition, but a workable one here. the belgian element is lost a little to this though, its not so flavol as the best quads are from a yeast standpoint, but the tradeoff is fair, im not sure fruity esters all high tone would be the best match with the agave and the wood, or the residual sugar. it oddly has a syrupy feel for being not so full bodied, which i dont love, and its not as bubbly as it could be, but there is flavor to the sugar. on top of the agave i get dried apricot, raisin, date, fig jam, and toffee, its pleasant. the tequila has even a hint of smoke and char to it, which helps manage the sugar and make this even more distinct. fun beer, not perfect, but mighty clever. i have had a lot of fun with martin city stuff lately, and definitely eager to try the scotch barrel edition of this!!!

Pours a murky brown with just a tinge of burgundy to it. One finger of buttery-beige head with fair retention and a few rings of lacing left behind. Aroma is dark fruits, raisins, peat, and lively tequila. It smells lively, and eager. Flavor profile is dark fruits, and raisins muddled together under a huge dose of peat and tequila. The peat and tequila both heat up as the beer warms in the glass. It doesn't ever burn on the tongue or going down, but the tequila notes are definitely there. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a slight grainy texture to it. Otherwise, it's smooth. Overall, the interaction of dark fruits, and raisins with peat and tequila is strange to say the least. While it works together, it does give a bit of a polarizing opinion.

Served in a teku glass.

 

 

Aged in Tequila Barrels