Altbier
Fiddlehead Brewing Company

On tap at Fiddlehead Brewing Company in Shelburne, VT.

This one pours a slightly cloudy golden brown color, with a small white head and lots of lacing.

This smells like liquid rye bread, roasty and toasty malts, slightly bitter hops, and caramel.

This is a pretty bang-on rendition of the style. It’s got a rich and deep maltiness, caramel sweetness, and slightly spicy breadiness. There’s a slight hoppy bitterness, too.

This is creamy and super drinkable, with a nice crisp finish.

For a brewery that is mostly an IPA factory, this is a well done traditional take.

part of their tasting room series, and a really exceptional example of the style. this is currently on tap, not retired, unless its been somehow tweaked into being a new beer, but its simple called tasting room series alt, and its delicious. a bit darker than a lot of these are, at least as brown as it is copper or amber, with a nice head from the tap and a warming, deeply autumnal aroma of toasted malt, chestnuts, dry cocoa, and leather, immediately a little more rich than many of these, but also without much sweetness it seems, awesome! the flavor is just as good as the nose, this is en expertly made beer, and the malt profile is deep and nuanced, with roasted nuttiness, weak coffee warmth, and hints of raisin, bran, and oak. i like the bigger body but the relative dryness, and i like the almost lagered character it has to the fermentation profile and the mouthfeel, this is super well crafted and way more flavorful than is common for the style. to me this is like the perfect october beer for a gray and windy afternoon, wearing a flannel, splitting wood or grilling or something, but its still killer in high summer too. awesome to see these guys branch out from the hoppy stuff with just as much success! this is as good an altbier as i can ever remember drinking.