Sal De Gusano
Fonta Flora Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours pitch black with a frothy tan head; very leggy, with a dotty pattern of lacing

Smell: Melted chocolate, salt and, sad to say, a sour milk tone

Taste: The chocolate tones, up front, are swept away by a salty sea of sour milk; tart finish, though there is still some chocolate underneath; hints of smoke in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: I am sticking with a "4" score out of respect for the brewery because I have had so many other good experiences with them that I will give them a pass for this infected beer; interesting that no other tickers or reviewers have noted the infection as it is all over Untappd; I am putting this review out as a public service to anyone who might be thinking of trading this beer

 

 

 

Received in a trade, shared with JLindros.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a super dark almost black hue with a nice mocha hue that fades to leave nice lacing.

S - Aromas of fudgy chocolate, nice salt. Salted caramel like with super subtle smoke. Nice nuttiness and vanilla with excellent Mezcal aromas, no booze on booze.

T - Taste is sweeter Mezcal, nice strong chocolate, good light vanilla faint salt. Surprisingly sweet, smoke is faint. The taste is very different than the nose, the chocolate is sweet too.

M - Mouthfeel is very lightly carbonated, thin. Only saving grace is how hidden the alcohol was.

O - Overall this was a very very good stout. Excellent balance of additives and barrel notes. One of only a few examples of a Mezcal barrel done right.

Serving Type: bottle

Thanks to rudzud.

An aggressive pour yields a huge mocha colored frothy 1.5 finger head that fades semi quickly, nice frothy lacing, pitch black beer nice legs.

Nose is very nice, big cocoa, dark choc, vanilla, fudgey cocoa, brownie cookie dough, into big mezcal tequila notes, little peppery mezcal, little roasty coffee, light salt and salted caramel note, little nutty and faint smoke.

Taste brings tons more of everything, some fudgey cocoa brownie, nutty fudge brownie, creamy milk chocolate, very quickly into mezcal, little peppery tequila mezcal notes, and lots of vanilla, the mezcal is is sweet and candy like. Finish dry, lingering fruity mezcal, more fudge cocoa.

Mouth is thin, lighter carb bit at least no booze.

Overall great but thin, so much awesome cocoa fudge, great mezcal rounding, very enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modest tan head, syrupy viscosity. Sufficient carbonation on the low to medium side. In my opinion, this works with the balance of flavors. The smell is intriguing and transforms amazingly as the beer warms to room temperature. Revisiting on a regular interval, it continually developed, pushing one component or another to the forefront. Initially a strong herbaceous mezcal aroma, perhaps drawing some sort of warm garden element from the Fonta Flora house culture ... I always get an earthy mix of aromas from FF beers, like root vegetables fresh from the ground, leaves and loam and root flesh sweetness. Oak, vanilla, dark chocolate / bakers chocolate, sea salt caramels and caramel dipped apples. As it warms the chocolate and caramel come to the foreground and the mezcal turns into spice backnote ... caraway and cumin, perhaps. Flavor isn't as herbaceous, more chocolate and salted caramel. Depth. Syrupy feel without that heavy residual sugar steroid beefing up the body. I really didn't get the "smoke" that many comment on and, in fact, could have used a touch of smoke to add yet another nuance to the finish. I didn't miss it but I wondered what it would be like if it were present after hearing comments.

I can understand this beer being divisive. Love / hate. I'm firmly in the love camp. One of the most interesting stouts I've had in a long while and without any clear analogue.