Shocktoberfest
Whistle Stop Restaurant & Woodman Brewery

Packaged in an odd-sized 18oz bottle with the slogan 'Novacaine in a Bottle' printed on front...this is a limited edition Halloween brew by Woodman Brewery.

Pours out densely opaque milk chocolate-bar brown in color with a three finger craggy tan head of dense foam that leaves some nice patterns of lace up and down my tulip glass as I sip. There are some small sediment chunks in there but nothing too scary or unmanageable. Body is medium-heavy, chewy, and well carbonated.

Nose contains dark fruits riding some boozey fusel notes and a semi roasted malt nose profile with minor chords of burnt peanut brittle. Taste is a brief hit of porter-like roasted malt quickly overcome by a medium level of strangely salty worchestershire sauce-like flavor component that melts away into some more light porter-ish roast combined with some dark fruits and an oddball musty leather-soaked in alcohol finish. Not very subtle, this one, and I really wonder what it would have been like if it were given some cellaring time to mellow out... My biggest complaint is that it feels kind of rough around the edges and muddled, it comes across to my tastebuds as a sort of weird porter / strong ale hybrid....that dips too far into roastedness without enough sweet malts to balance it out, or to (IMHO) justify the name of the brew being a playful variation of the word Octoberfest, when in fact there is very little reminiscent of a Marzen to be found within. But having said all that, if you like your strong ales on the saltier / roastier side, than this is a brew you should try.