Boob's Old 33 DD
Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

Website Description:
The first in a new salvo aimed at our Other-Mother-Brothers from the smelly side of the river, Boob’s Old 36-DD started as an irresponsible brown ale. We used pale and Vienna malts for the base and then complicated things with oats, caramel and honey malts, some Victory malt, and a load of lactose (milk sugar). The subtle use of English hops provide just enough bitterness to render the malty sweetness pleasant rather than cloying. Look for a very full mouthfeel as well as notes of caramel, toffee, honey, nuts, and candy.

My description:
Godspeed to the folks at AtG for constantly trying out new stuff. The brewery doesn't have any staple beers. Not a one. The lineup is constantly rotating. And that's good, because it forces them to get creative and take risks and try new, weird stuff. It's also not that good, because sometimes they release beers that aren't all that great.

Looks like a dark, limp red ale. Smells more like a nutty English brown, but with a big zing of caramely alcohol that's almost like a doppelbock. Tastes more like the zing than the nuttiness--cloyingly sweet caramel along with brown, honied barley and a big booze burn that's way beyond what you should reasonably expect out of a beer with a sub-7% ABV. I can't pick up the oats or the lactose--nearly everything gets absorbed by either the candy-sweet beginning or the borderline painful finish.

Still, it's not horrible. Just not very good.

Layers upon layers of complexities go into building this charming ale- from bread and crusted malts to oats to honey and caramel- to milk sugars and spicy woodish hops... yet the taste is incredibly refined and firm throughout.

Deep crimson and medium brown, the ale opens with semi-clarity to cast chestnut brown highlights through its mild haze. The ale builds a creamy, bone colored but dainty foam blanket to emulate cask ale appearances.

Delicate caramel, chocolate, malted milk and cashew aromas abound in the nose. Light toast and a kiss of grain highlights the sweeter scents as a tinge of floral and spicy wood seem to rise in balance. Then to taste, the caramel turns to toffee and the buttery-nutty taste turns to pistachio and brittle. A thread of semi-sweet chocolate with cocoa-type bitterness stems from middle palate to finish. Growing broad bitterness is mild and keeps the taste pleasantly balanced.

Medium bodied, the sweetness wants to register heavier, but the well attenuated malts couples with alcohol warmth and light wood dryness for a semi-sweet velvety finish.

Its an incredibly smooth, creamy and savory Brown Ale that sits right at home with a classic plate of bangers & mash.