Wundernutz!
CraftHaus Brewery

 

unique beer here, a stronger hazelnut brown, a little forced and even possibly slightly artificial tasting, but cool nevertheless, and my homie and i had a great time in here, fun beer list, nice people. the parts of this i like are it being an imperial, and it not being a stout or porter, the nuts stand out so much more in a brown ale base, and it being stronger adds body, a lot of grain to balance the nut element, and i think slows the whole thing down to a really pleasant drinking pace. i also think this has some vanilla in it, which sweetens this and makes it kind of desserty, but its a needed flavor layer, and it elevates this for me. what i dislike about it is the dosing, the hazelnut is so packed in here it seems unnatural, and it makes this a little bit one note due to its intensity, although there is some behind the scenes complexity to this, it just shouldnt be so masked i dont reckon. it also seems like a product of some kind rather than actual hazelnuts, maybe a powdered thing like people do with peanut butter beers so commonly? it has an almost flour-like thing about it, but also has a weird and slightly chemical linger after the swallow, so maybe its something beyond that, more like the syrups you put in coffee rather than an actual nut, but its tasty anyway, if you can make that allowance, and its a fun one to sip on, but a little is a lot with the hazelnut, the alcohol, and the overall sweetness this comes with. deep brownish red color, short but lathery khaki head, fine carbonation, relatively sturdy looking but also nice and lively. the smell and taste of this are identical, and its like 90% this hazelnut thing, which is one the one hand definitely trying to be hazelnut, but then on the other, as bemoaned, less than genuine, at least at this dosage, but it also has lovely vanilla warmth, a woody note, raisin and fig sweetness with the malts which is cool, some dry cocoa and even coffee character as well, if you can get past all the hazelnut. the base brown ale is good, deeper on the grain side, and the abv is neat being a little higher, good carbonation in this, medium bodied, chocolate on the finish with the nuts, overdone but still good!