Kamen Knuddeln Kentucky Common Dark Sour Beer
Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

22oz bottle thanks to rich. Dark brown pour with small beige head. After some truly exceptional beers, this was a bit of a letdown. Funky tart aroma, kind of fruity. Same for the taste, fruity tartness, a bit of woody flavors mellow it a bit.

 

650 ml bottle, from the Notrwegian importer. ABV is 6.5%. Very dark brown colour, moderate beige head. Sourish malty aroma, hints of bourbon, oak and rye bread. Medium sour and malty flavour - and that’s about it, very little here that invites you to take another sip. Could not possibly finish a whole bottle on my own.

 

 

 

The can told me "drink from the can" so the visual department is limited to the crazy ass ramen noodle art with a skeleton giving the finger. The can also says it's dark.

Smells of honey, molasses, and toasted caramel. Rich mahagony. Hints or raspberry and strawberry.

Taste is a mix of rich leather and wet pipe tobacco with sweet molasses dark candy syrup and dark cocoa. A tart red strawberry finishes. Aftertaste of iron and copper.

Light texture but sweet sugary on the finish. Tart, salty tobacco feeling builds with a small amount of smokyness.

Fascinating. I thoroughly enjoy the concept of a dark sour on a can. Sour beer doesn't have to be stuffy.

 

 

16 oz. Can

Poured into a Trillium glass a pretty nice dark brown color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy/foamy one-finger plus light tan head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, yeasty, with some chocolate/toffee, tart, slight vanilla. The taste is pretty nice, malty, yeasty, with a nice touch of chocolate/toffee, slight vanilla, nice little tartness. Medium body, ABV is hidden very nicely. Overall, a tasty brew.

 

A 1 pint can with a best before date of 16th January 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.

Appearance: A clear dark dark brown colour with a two finger tanned head that dissipated quickly and left pretty much no lacing.

Aroma: Roasted and toasted malts, brown sugar and smokiness with a hint of tart cherry.

Taste: Lightly tart and sour cherry, plum and apple with a hint of roast, toast, smoke and coffee.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: An interesting dark sour that was more roasty/smoky on the aroma while more fruity on the taste, and certainly easy to drink. Reminds me of Lichtenhainer maybe.

 

 

With tomorrow's pending solar eclipse, I am making this my third entry in Happy Preparation for Tomorrow's Solar Eclipse New Beer Sunday (Week 652)! I am happy to report that The CANQuest (tm) is alive & well.

From the CAN: "Brewer Owned"; "Oodles & Ooodles"; "We came to knuddel, or is it the other way around? Whatever ... try this one. It's a Kentucky Common inspired by our friends at The Nachbar. This dark sour beer is tart and easy. Just like we like 'em."

How in the f**k did they slip this label past the uptight a**holes at the ATF?!? Is the middle finger now de rigeur? Wow. I used my R one to CANduct the Crack! before beginning a (mostly) gentle Glug from the 16-fl. oz. pounder CAN. Man, did this one fizz like pop! I got (maybe) two fingers of fizzing, Pop!ping, light-tan head that quickly dissipated into wisps. Bye! Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose smelled like sour cherries with a light smokiness. Hmmm. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, almost like pop with all of the carbonation. The sourness was on the light side, but I still felt it in the hinges of my jaw. That is the difference between "tart", which causes puckering, especially of the lips, where "sour" catches you in your jaw. This had flavors of coffee, dark chocolate, sour cherries & even a little smokiness. Wild! I really dug the way that the cherry flavor was like a CANstant note throughout, present, but not overpowering. I am not really a Tart/Sour beer guy, but this was about my speed. I would guess that for those who prefer these styles, this would be Training Wheels City, but I was right at home. I did begin to feel a slight sense of indigestion, which is my bugaboo with these styles - I come away feeling oogy at times. Finish was dry and sour with a lingering cherry-chocolate taste, but not one of those awful chocolate-covered cherries. Instead, this was dark chocolate enrobing a Montmorency cherry. CAN you imagine that? I might even eat one, if they existed.

-mahogany can pour topped by 5 cm of soda-like foam that quickly dissipates to no foam, no lacing. Aroma is minimal, perhaps a plastic note.
The flavor is that of a kettle sour with a low bitterness. An oaky and toasted malt flavor persists. The body is light and a bit watery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours brown that appears black in all but the brightest of lights. A finger and a half of khaki head foams up rather quickly and maintains extremely well by way of forming a fluffy, khaki pillow on top of the beer. Only a few strands of lacing left behind. Aroma is brief with notes of bready, toasted malts, banana nut, and a little sour funkiness buried between the dark malts. Flavor profile maintains a surprisingly resound dark malt quality, with notes of toasted, roasted, and breaded malts. There is a sour quality throughout the flavor profile that ultimately climaxes in a finish that turns sour rather rapidly, and disappears just as quick. Mouth feel is more along the lines of a sour ale with a watery edge to it. A medium-thin body keeps this beer from being more of a stout experience. Overall, a beer that mixes dark malt notes with funky sour notes in a fairly well balanced manner. Fairly well balanced due to the quick turn over from steady dark malt notes with a slight sour twinge to a sudden pounce and pinning of the tongue by way of sour notes. The watery edge on the feel really keeps this beer drinking like a sour, and thus easier to drink. It's certainly an interesting looking sour beer, with a fun label.

Served in a 12oz snifter.

16 oz. can

Pours dark maroon near black with a quickly dissipating frothy tan foam head. Smells like nutty molasses, roasty toasted bready malts, caramel, brown sugar, oak, tart red fruits, cherry, plum, grapes, fig, berries, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like nutty molasses, roasty toasted bready malts, vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, oak, some pretzel, sour red fruits with a slight warheads-esque quality, cherry, plum, grapes, fig, berries, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium bodied, creamy and crisp with moderate carbonation. Overall a really nice dark sour ale.

I like the can art on this one -- but it exploded over with foam when I popped it open. It poured a dark, cola-like color with a large, fizzy, airy head that reminded me of soda. It was super quick to dissipate, then settled into a lasting quarter-finger cap.

It has a pretty dry, yeasty aroma. The carbon dioxide is noticeable at first, but after a while, dark fruit and a little sourness starts to show, too.

It reminds me of a brown ale at first -- dark bread, slightly nutty malts, a kiss of chocolate -- but then plum-skin tartness shines through, followed by a dry, moderately sour aftertaste.

It's medium to heavy bodied, and would almost have a creamy mouthfeel, if not for the strong carbonation cutting through.

This is darker, less sweet and more carbonated than what I had expected reading about the style, but it's still very enjoyable. As a "dark sour beer," I think they hit nail on the head. It's not a rarified sipper, but one I could enjoy sitting outside with and tossing a few back.

Pours an effervescent & gushy mahogany with a pinky of fast falling tan head. No head retention or lacing

S: Tartness, figs & dark cherry

T: Figs, slight woody sourness & a little sour cherry up front. Plums, woody dryness, almost a Li-Hing-Mui vibe going on minus the saltyness, slight tartness as this warms. Finishes slightly tart, dry, with a a little plum & cherry

MF: Medium body, fairly firm cabonation

Drinkable enough, but nothing special here not even close

16 oz can, no dating that I could find.

Pours very dark and stout like, minor lace left behind.

Off putting nose, with a distinct plastic note and a little barnyard poopyness.

Things do improve as it swirls around the mouth, dark grains, moderate tart/sour, with cherries, apples, figs and assorted ripe fruits.

Different for sure...complex, interesting...meh, I'm not a real big fan of this one......dark malts and ripe fruit notes just dont seem to be meshing with the underlying sour/tart nots....alot going on here and not all of it is that great....definately will not be for everybody

 

2017-01-22
16oz can served in a large snifter. I don't see a date.

Pours very dark, almost black, with a tiny head and not a lot of carbonation. Smell is a kind of apricotty tartness and yeast.

Taste is sour, kind of nondescript aside from that. A vague fruitiness of some sort. Not unpleasant, but not particularly interesting.

Mouthfeel is kind of thick and oily. Overall, as I said, not unpleasant, but not particularly interesting.

 

 

 

"We came to knuddel, or is it the other way around? Whatever... try this one. It's a Kentucky Common inspired by our friends at The Nachbar. This dark sour beer is tart and easy, just like we like 'em." Brewed in the style of an American Wild Ale, available in 22 oz. bottles and limited draft.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a snifter glass.

(Appearance) Pours a very crisp, short lived fizzy head of a pale brown color over a very dark cola brown body with high clarity. Retention is poor and there is no visible lacing. 2.5

(Smell) Blend of nutty bread malts and milk chocolate, cocoa characteristics with undertones of slight souring, delicate roast and a slightly sweetened malt body. The aroma is suggestive of an American Milk Stout- potency is moderate. 3.5

(Taste) Significantly more souring on the surface than the aroma gave off, considerably tangy sour front with undertones of chocolate and moderate roast, the latter also very well underplayed in the aroma but in place in the flavor of this beer. The sourness trails briefly following the finish but the rich chocolate and roasted barley flavors drag out the longest. Enjoyable; even though the sourness doesn't make the biggest impact, it is very noticeable in the flavor of this beer. 4

(Mouthfeel) Texture is silky, slick, moderately oily, moderately dry. Carbonation is high, generating a medium frothiness and a briskly crisp finish. Body is medium+ for the style, medium/heavy overall. Balance is slightly earthy roast and chocolate bitterness over sourness. Alcohol presence is light and there are no off characters. I found this beer overcarbonated which did create some distraction to the drinking experience, however. 3.5

(Overall) Kamen Knuddeln is a fairly enjoyable soured stout with a nicely preserved sweetness and specialty malt body and an evident, if not boldly striking sourness about it. I found the carbonation distracting and very busy in this beer which distracted drinkability somewhat. An enjoyable beer, although it's not outstanding. There aren't too many examples of soured dark ales and stouts out there, but this is slightly north of the average line. 3.75

Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse's
Kamen Knuddeln: Kentucky Common Dark Sour Beer
3.69/5.00

-Kentucky common dark sour beer.

A: Caramel apple pour sits a cola like appearance in the vessel. Dark walnut toned head is slight and fizzy, while shortly lasting providing little lace stickage.

S: Earthy fresh cola and toasted bread with sour dark fruit of plums, and raisins can first be had on the nose. Average strength with an average duration.

T: Flavor of sour fruit follows the nose closely, plums, raisins that are juicy with some blackberries and figs. Light souring factor, dark crystal malts and dark grapes with a light cough medicine alcohol like leave.

M: Fizzy, slippery syrup texture on the mouthful, medium body.

O: Juicy lightly sour dark fruit and lightly sour crystal malts provide for a different and unique like experience. The souring effect tends to grow a bit deeper into the drink.

A: Pours an opaque yet still clear very dark cola brown (though in the right light it looks just about black) in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation along the edges of the glass and faint garnet red highlights. The beer has a finger tall foamy tan head that quickly reduces to a large patch of thin film covering a little more than 75% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light aromas of roasted + dark malts with moderate aromas of dark fruits (plum and tart cherry). Hints of aromas of chocolate, spicy rye, and nuts.

T: Upfront there is a light flavor of roasted + dark malts with a hint of caramel malts + spicy rye. That is followed by light to moderate flavors of tart lactic acid and moderate flavors of dark fruits (plum and tart cherry). Finally there are very light flavors of chocolate and peanut. There is a light amount of lingering tartness in the finish.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly heavier than light amounts of acidic prickliness.

O: Definitely a very interesting beer and reinforces my opinion that I really enjoy these Kentucky Common style beers. Easy to drink and very enjoyable. Nice light flavors of tartness mixed with roasted and dark malts. Definitely worth grabbing if you get the chance.

 

Can into a pint glass. Dark brown - looks like a glass of Pepsi. Light, fizzy head that faded quickly. Relatively weak nose, but there are notes of roasted nuts, caramel, baker's chocolate, yeast, and bready malt. I've not had a Kentucky Common before, but to me this smells a lot like a Belgain..though this is listed as a Wild Ale..whatever. The taste is quite similar, with notes of caramel, dark fruit, chocolate, nuts, and wood. A tiny bit sour. Very tiny. The feel on this guy is a little thin, but there is some chewiness to it. The finish is watery and sticky.

An interesting one, if you're a fan of dark beers, sour beers, or..dark sour beers.

Pours very dark almost black and with some glinting ruby and orange hues to show you. Thin head. Tannish and fizzy. You can hear it fizzing and popping. Nose is earthy malts and a low herbal hop presence. You can't smell anything really tart or funky but it is just there. Nor real fruity esters but something very sweet . IF there is any barrel character tobacco is a good word. the scent of it matches the color. Taste is rich with malt and has lost all fizz after the first sip which actually fizzed out on my tongue. Malts go to the finish without much hop character and a sour quality to the drink overall that would have been nicely accented by a few bubbles. Rich , sweet, syrupy finish.