Onyx of Ophir
Bellwether Brewing Co.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a half finger khaki head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, light cocoa, Indian spices, particularly cinnamon, turmeric and nutmeg; a little root beer character; inviting. Flavor is dark toasted malt, dry cocoa, cinnamon, turmeric, mace and coriander (among others) and a lightly spicy, earthy finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. On my trip to Spokane, I limited myself to two beers from each brewery as I had quite a few I wanted to sample. In a few cases there were unusual styles and I picked up one more. Except Bellwether, which was generous both with their samples and unusual variety of uncommon styles and riffs on old styles, which this was one; I ended up with four cans from here. I wasn't sold on the idea of garam masala in a beer, but the sample made this my first for-sure purchase. I ended up with four cans from here and was not disappointed. Unlikely as it seems for a flavoring, this smelled very nice right away and the spicing was quite pleasant in the taste as well. Garam masala is a complex (and varied) mixture of spices, so there is a lot to parse in tasting, however it is exotic and works very nicely. The spice level is deftly handled, leaving a persistent aftertaste, but not overpowering the porter base, which is almost traditional in flavor. I liked this a lot, an unexpected favorite from the trip.