Battle Line
Texian Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was definitely part of a recent package from the Mighty JenRay in support of The CANQuest ™, now back in full (fool) swing!

From the CAN: "Made in Texas"; "During the siege at the Alamo, Lt. Colonel William B. Travis understood the odds that faced his men & drew a line in the sand giving the soldiers a chance to leave. Of the 200 men under his command, only one chose to leave. Louis Moses Rose, a French mercenary, the ‘Coward of the Alamo’.”; “Battle Line is a rich and malty ale with a smooth finish and just enough hop presence to help balance out the sweetness."; "Brewed Proudly in Richmond, Texas"; "Go Texan"; "A fine Texan Ale".

The Crack! unleashed another highly carbonated CAN from Texian BC and I would caution you that this is the second time that I have experienced something like this in one of their beers. The Glug was a gentle undertaking as a result, but still producing three-plus (close to four) fingers of dense, light-tan head with great retention. Annoying, actually, as it refused to dissipate and was holding me up from being able to drink any of it. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with cola-colored highlights visible at the edges. Nose had a milk chocolate and nutty malt quality along with a kind of mintiness from the hops. Mouthfeel was medium, but very effervescent. The carbonation seemed to be diffusing the taste in this one, making it difficult to capture the nuances on the tongue. The mintiness was the real standout, with the chocolaty malts accompanying it for the ride. Sticky lacing began to appear as I drank. I liked the taste, especially for the style, but I found the carbonation to be overdone and problematic. Finish was semi-dry with the hops really more prevalent then the malts, although they played a large enough part so that it was not totally unbalanced. It has potential, but this brewery really needs to look at their carbonation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour is a very dark reddish brown with a light beige head. Smell is creamy and nutty malt and a hint sweet with almost coffee notes. Taste is roasty, nutty malt. Dry toasty nutty flavor with moderate to high hop bitterness for a brown along with maybe booze? Kind of a lingering dry bitterness in the aftertaste. Actually fairly tasty especially compared to the smell. Thin to medium body and crisp carbonation. Good brown