The Knell
TRVE Brewing Co.

16oz can. Poured out a clear, golden amber color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy lacing. It smelled of toasted caramel, spices and bready notes. Sweet caramel, toffee and maltiness. Mild bitterness.

L- Nice semi opaque dark coppery brown color with a fluffy off white head that can be 3 fingers high depending on pour, then settles nicely.
N- Nice woody barrel like notes on the nose. Light roasted grain whiffs.
T- Nice light roasted grain with barrel like tannins to keep things dry and a bit bitter. I get a nice tannic tang from the beer that works with the light bitterness. There really is no malty sweetness at all. Really well balanced with the tannic dryness fooling you into thinking this is a much higher ABV.
F- Smooth and silky feel with medium body. The body is the only clue that this is a lower ABV beer.
O- A surprising beer for me. I have not had an English best bitter before but I like this one. Well done.

L - Golden amber malts, increasingly turbid as one pours (unfiltered beer), and I'm here for it. Fantastic off-white head that lasts and lasts and lasts, like most TRVE beers.
S - More malted fields, barley-hop whiff, a bit nutty across the grains... proper, but not powerful. Bitters usually aren't.
T - Shines again, and TRVE handled this one well - expressive grains, light hop touch, and rich malt body from the unfiltered nature of the beer. Some might be put off by the taste/texture/feel, but again.... I'm here for it.
F - Fantastic mouthfeel if you don't mind a bit of grist in the mouth. Great CO2 balance, texture, never gritty. Love it.
O - so happy to find an American brewer doing a proper bitter! MORE, TRVE, MORE!

Revisited March 18th, 2024

Incredibly clear, dark honey colored body; decent carbonation; thick, lasting, frothy head, white. Deep, rich toasted grain and malt notes; caramel. The flavor retains its malt-forward character; heavy but not cloying sweetness with just the right touch of subtle hop bitterness. The body seems a bit richer and fuller, more inline with the style.

It is a mystery to me as to what happened with the looks of my first can of this beer. The difference could not be more stark. This sample certainly has the eye appeal. I'll see what the other two cans do for me. As it is, this episode earned higher ratings for the 'Look' and 'Feel' categories.

(late note) - appearance mystery solved - I think this is an unfiltered beer. My first can was opened soon after transporting it from the beer shop to my home, so it was fairly well shaken up in that time. This evening, this second can had been sitting in a refrigerator for over a week. As I poured the remaining beer into my glass, the clarity became cloudy from the trub and beer yeast sitting in the can. Same great smell and taste, but the appearance and, to a smaller extent, mouthfeel did change, becoming more inline with my first review experiences.

ABV: 4.1%; pouring temperature: 47 °F: canning info: n/a
Source: local purchase

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Original March 09th, 2024 ratings, scores, and review

3.5 4.25 4.25 3.75 4.0; BA weighted overall score: 4.11; rDev: 0%

Dull, murky body; pours a somewhat cloudy amber hue, opaque in the glass; gorgeously thick head, dense and creamy, very rocky in appearance. Bold malt sweetness on the nose; somewhat nut-like; roasted grain. Fairly bold malt flavor; dull, earthy caramel notes; toffee; fairly mild sense of bitterness. Medium-light body; soft and lightly velvety.

The murky body is a bit of a head scratcher, yet the head is pretty stellar. The aroma and taste definitely complement and reinforce each other with a distinctly malt-forward character. The beer may look screwy, but it certainly drinks like a champ.

ABV: 4.1%; pouring temperature: 53 °F; canning info: n/a
Source: local purchase (Coaltrain Fine Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits)