Acova Black Walnut
Firetrucker Brewery

On tap at The Brass Tap, Cedar Falls, Iowa; served in a snifter. Clear dark brown in color, with a ruby highlight and a white head. Good retention, lots of sticky lacing. Maly forward as expected, with big flavors of black walnut providing a nice complement. Medium bodied, with a hint of dark fruit on the palate and mild bitterness on the clean finish. Excellent pairing with spicy food, and highly recommended.

 

L - pours thick brown and makes a nice creamy head, about 1.5 fingers, with good head retention. Holding the glass up to light cannot see any light coming through, looks dark brown almost black.
S - black licorice roasted barley, slightly nutty
T - malty and sweet, slightly smokey and a little bit of the nutty walnut is detected at the end along with a bit of the black licorice that I could smell before tasting.
F - very smooth and creamy as well as a little chewy. Medium carbonation but almost seems nitro like, which works well for this style.
O - I would describe this beer overall as malty, nutty, creamy, and smooth. Well balanced, malt forward, and complex. The walnuts are detected and just the right amount at the finish. Very good, I recommend

 

Iowa's very own, Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny has a great selection of unique brews. This one is very nice! Their description says a lot:

Get ready to get nutty! This smooth jivin' winter seasonal is ready to throat punch you with flavor! 100lbs of local black walnuts were crammed into one batch of beer, giving you a deep walnut aroma and a silky smooth dry finish. On the slopes or in front of the fire, Acova will make you feel the holidays.

100 pounds??? In one batch?? Well, it shows! Nice and dark (even darker than a normal American Brown Ale), a thin off-white head, and a nose that is bready and strong walnut. The nose, alone, is enticing and even made my stomach growl a bit. It's a heavy nose that says this may be a nutrient heavy beer. It smells like fresh, warm walnut/wheat bread.

The mouth feel throws you off... The color and aroma leads you to believe that it's a thick, acidic beer. It's not! Smooth and light, though not like an American mass produced lager or ale. Plenty of carbonation to give it a little bite on the tongue, but it's just enough to not overcome the flavor. It's a very mild 38 IBU, but the nice bitter is most likely from the ton of black walnut crammed into a batch.

Acova tastes like it smells. Bready, malty, lots of walnut, smokey and sweet on the finish. I imagine this going really well with prime rib or lean grilled steak. The finish also lends to a warming effect but it's only 6.8% ABV, so it's not really boozy. This is an excellent late fall/winter brew.

 

Nice natural walnut flavor and not artificial. But that is about all that is going on in the aroma and flavor. Looks good and has a mouthfeel. Only have the one can and that is probably enough for me.