Broken English
Fonta Flora Brewery

a super interesting beer here, and while this one is sure to generate a lot less interest and excitement from the beer geeks, i am a huge fan of it. a smoked english dark mild ale, with a cool and somewhat subtle wild yeast aspect to it, definitely never had a beer like this before. pours a deep chestnut brown color, without much more than a quarter inch of head that rises and falls rather quickly. it smells like pretty heavy smoke, almost german rauch type malts to this, campfire wood smoke, not acrid or bitter or anything, but its no doubt the most notable aroma here. there is also a touch of vinegar sourness, rich english grains, very toasted and bready, and then a light funk as well, wet wood, mixed nuts, very autumnal. the flavor is cool, lots of smoke right away, and a neat hearty grain base to go with it, i would like this a lot even without the weird yeast element, which comes in a little tart like lemon juice and brings a little musty funk to it, without taking over, still respecting an english yeast quality as well, and leaving the grain as the main contributor to the feel, not any sourness. pretty darn complex beer, and really well executed, not sure why more brewers havent attempted something like this, it makes perfect sense. a little weird in spring instead of fall, these flavors just scream october and november to me, but i really enjoyed this, very different, and a unique smoke flavor with everything else going on. not as epic to me as some of their fruited wild beers, but equally as memorable...