Philadelphia
Aslin Beer Company

 

This beer has a lot going for it - it pours with no head but entices you gives the thick dark look, despite the inclusion the wheat wine which accounts for a slight amount of transparency. The smell is distinct, more in the sweet pie direction than in the roasty direction - very nice. What kills it for me though is the nutmeg, which dominates the taste. I put nutmeg on tuna melts...not in beer...and it just doesn’t work in beer for me. It tasted like a cake of some sort gone wrong - just a mess of adjuncts where nothing is allowed to shine because of the nutmeg. Just not my cup of tea...but thanks for trying Kai, love the creativity...!

 

 

The beer pours a nice dark tan head that dissipates quickly but has a nice creamy texture to it. The beer itself is a nice looking dark chocolate black that has a solid looking texture and sheen to it.

The smell is good but fails to convey most of the other notes. The smell has an overall sweet and lightly bitter cocoa note that mixes well with a good dose of nutmeg followed a hint of light caramel shooting straight through from the wheatwine towards the finish.

The taste is a delightful roller coaster. It starts off with a strong caramel mixed with the apple brandy note with a tiny bit of alcohol that warms up to a much more sweeter and blossoming combination of nutmeg and cocoa and vanilla. The cinnamon is very light and sprinkles the edges of the nutmeg while the apple brandy continues to add a nice tart note to everything. The maple wood bourbon is there and does come out briefly towards the end but is immediately subsumed by the cocoa and apple brandy.

The feel is good. It has a heavy body with a very smooth body to it. The carbonation is very light though.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer worth getting and succeeds fairly well despite the complex amount of adjuncts.

 

 

Drank from a 500mL bottle purchased at Aslin Beer Company, Herndon, VA
Served in a snifter

Chestnut brown appearance and thinner bodied than I anticipated. A creamy, fluffy, khaki colored crown topped the liquid and slowly dropped to a thick, frothy, lasting collar. Streaks and droplets of drippy lacing cascaded down the sides of the glass.

The aroma was really interesting. Nutmeg came through big time. Good dose of fresh vanilla bean too. Slightly creamy. This was definitely reminiscent of egg nog. Caramel notes were quite apparent. Perhaps some caramel coated apple. Fairly sweet overall. Touch of roasted malt character. As the beer sat, the caramel really intensified.

The flavor was similar to the nose but not quite as rounded or complex. Big malt presence on the front end. Nice melding of caramel and roasted malts. Somewhat nutty. Nutmeg came through strong in the center. Perhaps a touch of cinnamon as well. The booziness also kicked in here and crescendoed as the beer moved along the palate. More booze and oaky barrel notes on the finish. Some sweet vanilla, alcohol and bitter roasted malts lingered after the swallow.

Nice fluffy mouthfeel, but definitely lighter bodied for the ABV. The liquid contained a medium bubbled, greater-than-average effervescence that turned creamy and slick on the palate.

Philadelphia is a really interesting beer with a potent nutmeg quality that reminded me of Fall time. Despite the extremely steep ($30) price tag, I am glad I pulled the trigger on this.