The German Hobo
Old Nation Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

A - Pours burnt orange with a two finger foamy white head. Tons of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is sweet malts, corn, apple, pear and some grassy notes.

T - The taste is very boozy with caramel mats, light notes of apple, pear, and orange. The finish has lingering bitterness.

M - Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a dry finish.

O - This is a pretty decent malt liquor. Definetly not an easy drinker with the alcohol taking over the flavor.

 

Collaboration between newcomers Old Nation and Dark Horse. Cans are by Old Nation, bottles by Dark Horse.
Beautiful rusty orange color, some lacing. Smells like orange citrus, buckwheat honey and some corn. Tastes like a strong ale. Caramel, honey and orange. Let it warm up and it tastes like pineapple upside down cake. Some boozy heat is present on the finish. Decent body and drinkability. A solid craft malt liquor choice.

12 FL. OZ. bottle
Served in a pokal glass

This beer pours copper colored with caramel highlights. It is topped with two inches of tan head that leaves a little lacing.

It smells malty and boozy just like a good malt liquor should. Most mass produced malt liquors are just boozy smelling though. This has an added depth of aroma that those malt liquors just don't possess.

The taste is boozy as well. The malt adds an alt beer flavor that adds a little complexity to the booziness. I almost wince with each sip because of how strong this beer tastes.

Moderate to thin mouthfeel

I consider myself a connoisseur of malt liquor. This beer is definitely worthy of a brown paper bag and sipping on the sidewalk in Detroit or on my front porch. This is only the second "craft" version of a malt liquor that I have had the pleasure of trying. I would encourage all breweries to give this underrated style a go. I love malt liquor.

Pours cloudy amber with a medium, creamy, off white head that lasts a little while.

Smells of caramel malts, light dark fruits, light grassy and earthy. Hints of apple and pear. Touch of alcohol.

Tastes caramely, fruity especially apple. Moving to a bready and darkfruit taste and slight bitter. Finish is pretty dry with a lingering almost citrusy bitterness. Medium body and creamy lower medium carbonation.

 

 

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass; no can dating, but is a recent release. Pours slightly hazy medium orange/amber/light copper color with a 2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lemon, grapefruit, melon, pear, apple, citrus peel, pepper, pine, cracker, corn, biscuit, honey, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of citrus/earthy hops, moderate bready malt sweetness, and light fruity yeast notes; with solid strength. Taste big lemon, grapefruit, melon, pear, apple, citrus peel, pepper, pine, cracker, corn, biscuit, honey, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus rind/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of lemon, grapefruit, melon, pear, apple, citrus rind, pepper, pine, cracker, corn, biscuit, honey, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Nice robustness and balance of citrus/earthy hops, moderate bready malt sweetness, and light fruity yeast flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying sweetness after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from lingering bitterness, increasing through the glass. Bit of increasing lingering hop astringency, but not overwhelming. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/grainy/sticky/resinous, and slightly slick balanced mouthfeel that is good. Fairly clean on lager flavors; a bit of DMS and fruity yeast notes, but not overwhelming. Alcohol is very well hidden, a mild lingering warmth after the finish. Overall this is a pretty nice hoppy malt liquor. All around good robustness and balance of citrus/earthy hops, moderate bready malt sweetness, and light fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV. This was nicely enjoyable; but really just tastes like a DIPL with a lot of grainy/maize flavors, and not a true malt liquor.

 

 

 

I picked up a can of Old Nation and Dark Horse's The German Hobo at The Lager Mill. It's been a while since I've had a craft Malt Liquor or any Malt Liquor for that matter and I'm interested to see what these two breweries can do with the style, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a tall 16oz can into a Imperial Pint glass.

A- The label looks good, it's goes well with the name and it's eye catching. It poured a fairly clear amber color that didn't change when held to the light and it had a finger and a half of slightly off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of sweetness with the sweet malts being the first to show up and it goes into a little bit of a fruity aroma with some creaminess which gives it a little bit of a yogurt like aroma. Up next comes the hops which are barely noticeable and it's followed by the hops which impart some pale malt, grainy, bready and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a nice aroma, but the yogurt aspect throws me off a little.

T- The taste seems to be fairly similar to the aroma and it starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness with the sweet fruity flavors being the first to show, it's mainly a generic fruity flavor, but this there is a little bit of an apple flavor showing up. Up next comes a noticeable alcohol flavor which is slightly boozy, but not too warming and it's followed by the malts which impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma. On the finish there's pretty much no bitterness with some sweetness and booze taking it's place and it has a very sweet and fruity aftertaste. This is a decent tasting, it's not bad, but it's very sweet.

M- Fairly smooth, a little creamy, a little boozy, a little crisp, full bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a decent beer and a pretty solid example of the style, it doesn't really taste like many of the malt liquors I remember drinking in my youth, it doesn't really have any of those harsh and metallic flavors that I remember, but it is a strong malty beer so I guess it lives up to the style. This beer has decent drinkability, half the can is the perfect amount for me, but I think I could take out the whole can. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance and mouthfeel, to me those were the highlights of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the sweetness, I wish it was toned down. I don't think i would buy this beer again unless I really wanted a craft malt liquor and I would only recommend to someone looking for the same. All in all I didn't love this beer, but I didn't hate it either and it is what is. It's not a favorite beer from Old Nation and it's a solid example of the sty le. Nice job guys, but with a little less sweetness this might be a better beer.