Barrel-Aged Burdock
Scratch Brewing Company

a neat beer for thanksgiving, earthy and old worldy and like most of the scratch stuff, totally one of a kind. done with roasted burdock root and aged in red wine vessels, never had anything like this. looks like a porter, dark brown with some shine, not a ton of viscosity, and a bottle conditioned looking inch of tan foam, no sediment, nice luster, lively. a darker saison type base, even biere de garde elements with an older grain aspect, some saison type yeast spiciness, and there is a hint of smoke in the nose here too, raisin and cranberry from the wine treatment, an almost chicory coffee thing from the roasted burdock, deeply and uniquely earthy there, dry it seems, toasted dark. the flavor is real complex, yeasty without being wild, rustic more than anything, black pepper and strong woody tannin character, roast and smoke, dark chocolate, dark soil, dried cherry, cola, vanilla, but its not sugary, mineral forward, some wheat likely too as this has a little fluffed up body to it even with some piquancy, and there is a little oxidation in it, like maybe i hung onto the bottle a little longer than would have been ideal before opening it, but scratch beer is always special occasion stuff, and wanted to save this for one. slightly musty, umami like a raw mushroom thing to it, subtle anise and black tea, tang at the end, of major intrigue and quality, soft carbonation, weird but great, warms up uniquely too, exotic and festive and fantastic. shockingly spendy, but i am glad i bought it.

Had on draft 7/15/21 @ the Beer Temple.

Opaque light brown appearance.

Small white head; minimal lace.

Root beer, faint cherry & fresh wood notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

The flavor followed the nose; mildly tart, but hardly sour...just a tasty dark lager. I'd have another!

 

 

Copperish brown with a tan ring and surface islands. The burdock is upfront and take on a cherry wood, teriyaki and chocolate aroma. Some red wine, oak, and earth all there too. Taste is sharper, more woodsy and bitter, but has all of the flavors from the smell too. Get some mild chicory, booze, and weirdly pear. Feel is sharpy but mildly sour, has wood and wine influences backing the roots and botanical nature. Fun