Ridiculous Belgian Style Dark Ale
Walnut River Brewing Company

 

 

On tap. Poured a clear, amber color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of maltiness, toffee and yeastiness. Nice malty flavor with caramel and toffee. Mild bitterness.

a really interesting beer, not seemingly real professional, as in its kind of raw and rugged, but its alluring in its experimental and unique nature, i really like it. its not all that belgian to me, just sort of seems like a strong malty ale. its deep brown, with some roast and some sweet to both aroma and flavor, slight maple, some dry cocoa powder, red berries and raisin, very layered, but also kind of thick and kitchen sinky to me, in need of a little refinement, but there is one thing here that really pushes this over the edge into my good favor, and that is the oak profile on this. it must be aged on oak spirals rather than in barrels, possibly soaked in whiskey, but that aspect is less important here, this really intense rich woodiness is amazing, more than often comes from a barrel, giving this a wildly smooth and warm woody complexion that makes this impossibly unique. slightly charred, slightly sweet, hints of vanilla and cola, tons of body, boozy but in a good, warming, cozy sort of way. these guys are rightfully proud of this one, but i wonder how repeatable it is. i havent had enough beer from them to know how good they are, and this seems like a winning homebrew, but thats not a bad thing...