Known Gnome
Off Color Brewing

 

 

Released late September 2019; drank 11/16/19 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A violent pour yielded a huge tan head; minimal lace.

Root beer, cream, mild oak & faint chamomile notes in the nose.

Creamy medium mouthfeel.

Root beer, cream & ginger flavors up front; oak & faint chamomile notes on the finish.

Robust flavors that are easy to drink; strong schwarzbier vibes. I really liked this.

 

 

 

Brown in color with a very murky complexion. There’s a fingernail of beige around the rim. I smell black licorice and caramel, and milk chocolate. I’m tasting caramel, black licorice, and milk chocolate. The mouth is very smooth and cream, likely due to the oats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a twelve ounce bottle, this brew is an utterly back, thick liquid. The head is slim and tan. Smokey and grainy aroma. The taste is lightly malty, roasty (coffe especially), with a bit of underlying sweetness. Full flavor. Medium full body.

 

 

This one pours a creamy looking dark brown- almost black- with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like tobacco, herbal hops, mint, wood, dark chocolate, and espresso.

This is super herbal and weird, but great. There's definitely licorice, and it gives off a herbal- almost mint- sort of flavor. There's a light spiciness, almost oak-like, with dark bitter chocolate, and a watery coffee flavor. There's also a herbal tobacco flavor.

This is very light bodied, a bit thin, with a creamy feel. There's a high level of drinkability.

This is a really unique and fun spin on a porter. It's a little too thin, but still very tasty nonetheless.

 

Light to medium brown color with a slight sliver of beige head in my mini snifter.

Aromas of milk chocolate, tin, oats, and earth.

Flavor is much of the same, with a very delicious and robust porter flavor. Lots of yummy chocolate, rich cocoa, molasses, slight tin, anise, and at the tail end some woody and rooty notes, finishing off with coffee and chocolate.

Feel is light and crisp, with residual roasty notes. Really nice carbonation.

Overall, an enjoyable porter with strong chocolate notes and some original earthiness.

Look- pours cola brown w/tiny ring of head

Aroma- coffee, dark chocolate, smoke, almonds

Flavor- follows the nose closely. Also getting a hint of black licorice

Feel- medium bodied and and low carbonation

Overall- nice roasty, smoky porter with a hint of black licorice

 

 

 

Pours a dark ruddy brown color - completely opaque. No head but it does have that fizzy carbonation you see on the top of a coke. In fact this looks like a coke that has settled.

Aroma is quite potent and somewhat herbal (in a jager like way). You get some licorice, mint, cocoa, wood, and earthy notes.

Taste follows the nose with notes of chocolate, licorice, earthy wood, cocoa, some light mint notes and an oaken finish. Its quite earthy with an incredible depth of flavors.

Feel is medium to light bodied but drinkable. Its quite smooth.

Overall this is a unique - trending rustic - porter, but its quite good. Definitely worth a try.

 

Taste: Chopped full of flavors of bark, smoked malts, licorice, dark, chocolate, toast, with a chewy mouth, and dry finish. Toasted wood and backer's chocolate nose. Reddish black hue, mostly opaque, smaller tan head delicate lace. Medium/Full body. Complex and earthy. 20 IBUs

 

 

Tasted in a snifter from draught at Firkin on December 21, 2017. Look is brown with a thin tan head and lingering lacing lacing. Smell and taste is coffee and dark roasted malts. Feel is medium in body.

 

 

First time, I had this on tap at Off Color's Mousetrap bar. Interestingly, a big part of the spicing is the bark from the quassia which is like an ash tree... per the almost always informative and funny write-ups on Off Color's website. Apparently, this substitution is a throw-back to avoiding the taxes levied on hops. (So are the Brits following the 16th Century Bavarian prince's tradition of taxing beer ingredients because the can get away with it more than taxing alcohol? .... Or is that just the libertarian molecule in me mouthing-off.)

All that aside (and quite possibly not right) ...... Known Gnome is an enjoyable porter. Sweet and yet gently roasted malts, with a medium-to-full mouth. The bark is clearly different than hops.... and just might be better for a malt-head like me. So is the sweet licorice. Will this unusual porter get bottled? If it does, find it. If not, go to the Mousetrap which probably will be one of the few outlets.

2/12/21 Carried two cans to the curb from the Mousetrap. I'm still enjoying Known Gnome and, in the intervening time, have had the other two in Off Color's Gnome line-up. And I prefer Known. It is a solid porter, well-blended and satisfying on a cold day. I'm not going to say that I'm satisfied with this review (it probably still needs even more editing), but I will say that I'm keeping count over at UnTappd.

 

Dark brownish black with auburn highlights when held to the light. Initial thin layer of froth, doesn't last long.
Aroma is earthy and roasty, pleasant and dry with a little bit of botanical nuance to it.

Moderately bitter and roasty, bakers chocolate, dry and clean. Thankfully doesn't taste like licorice at all.
Smooth and medium bodied, lower carbonation. Lingering dry roasty aftertaste. Overall it's a tasty porter.