Da Honey Stank
Bog Iron Brewing

 

Reviewed from notes.

Poured from growler into a SA perfect pint the same day as purchased from the brewery.

Appearance - reddish/gold color - more towards the gold. Very thin head that fades to wispy bubbles on the top of the liquid. A little bit of lacing on the glass.

Smell - yeah this has honey in there - floral sweetness immediately, then a pleasant level of earthiness and lemon. Not a particularly powerful aroma, but very pleasant.

Taste - the honey and lemon/citrus comes to the foreground for me, followed by the contributions from the Brett which is noticeable but not overbearing, Sweet and a touch of spiciness. A nice level of sourness on the back end of the taste. Not a bad mixture of flavors, but the honey seemed a little dominant.

Feel - pretty crisp and smooth, but at the same time a bit creamy and sticky. Fairly dry, but some residual "sticky" feeling.

Overall it is a pretty easy drinking beer and a refreshing beer for a hot day. Seems a reasonable representation of the style. The "funk" is not over the top - no horses or barnyards, more of a vaguely earthy maybe citrus-like sourness that plays off the honey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to JLindros for sharing. Poured into a Kate the Great tulip.

A - Poured a hazy copper hue with a light thin head that fades to leave thin wisps.

S - Aromas of honey, caramel, brett. Very nice funk and aromatic.

T - Taste is lemon, super funky brett, light honey, some yeast, tasty. Delicious beer with awesome funk.

M - Mouthfeel is nice and creamy with light carbonation.

O - Overall this was a tasty beer with nice honey and funk. Very tasty.

On-tap 3/23/2014 at British Beer Company, in Walpole, MA served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep gold color, with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains honey, caramelized malts, wild Belgian yeast and some spice.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of honey and some spice. Then some breadiness comes in from a hearty malt character and mildly wild Belgian yeast. The hops presence is mild but complementary and brings a good balance. It takes a while for the sourness to come in. The after-taste is slightly tart.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is dry and slightly sticky.

O: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, decent representation of style, this is a solid beer to drink for a while.

 

 

 

 

From the brewery:
"This beer is our first foray into the world of funky beers. Da Honey Stank starts off as a simple pale ale to which we add just a touch of honey and then ferment it with a wild yeast, Brettanomyces bruxellensis or simply Brett b. What's so special about Brett b, you ask? Well, Brett b is usually associated with Belgian-style beers like lambics and gives the finished beer a very earthy and slightly sour aroma and flavor. In a word, funky. The grain bill is light and adds a nice complementing malt profile to the beer and the hops (Perle, Nugget, and Pacific Jade) bring the beer together without getting in the way. However, the star of the show in this beer is the yeast. The Brett gives the beer a mild "funkiness" and creates an easy drinking, yet complex pale ale."

I have heard they use Brett Trois now, so it may have changed some. Re-reviewing since the 2 week old growler I just shared with Rudzud and Ricky is much better than the precious batches.

Pours a smaller fizzy slight creamy head covering that fades at a med pace, little lacing, hazy honey orange colored beer.

Nose brings a nice fruity and floral aroma like apple blossoms, a nice Belgiany aroma with a nice Brett funk not horsehair but nice lemony slight vinous funk, a bit of a fresh malt note, with a light lemony tart almost sour like aroma, and a bit of an earthy slight floral like hop character as well as that fruity hop.

Taste brings nice honey right out front, it's not subtle but it's not super strong either, nice honey floral flavor, with some juicy malts underneath, a little golden malt character with fair sweetness. A nice light fruity floral hop flavor that gets a little grassy even, and mild bitterness. Then a fruity flavor, more apple like flavors but again that like floral apple blossom note, with a little sour note, light funky Brett Trois like flavor, no funky horse blanket, more of that sour lemony funk with touch of apple skin. A mix of bright fruits come through between the hops and mild tart Brett flavors, and very faint hint of honey towards the back end. Finish dries a bit, that honey dry flavor, with a little more tart lemony flavors and little sour like funk, and abit more bitterness.

Mouth is med bod, decent carb.

Overall interesting and surprisingly drinkable. Brett was much better on this batch than previous batches, or because it sat in the growler for a couple weeks waiting for when I could share it with rudzud and Ricky. Pretty tasty and quite drinkable. I hope this stays on as a staple beer for them, esp if it continues to get funkier.