Erstwhile
Hudson Valley Brewery

 

16 oz can

very dark brown in color, off-white colored head. decent head retention. nice aroma of coffee-like roast and a little cocoa powder. taste is similar it leans chocolately and is a little sweet. fuller bodied for a 4% abv beer, and mouthfeel is slick and smooth

Pours a slightly cloudy, deep, dark mahogany coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells of roasted, grainy, bready malt, chocolate and hints of herbal, spicy hops. Taste is a great balance of roasted, grainy, bready malt and herbal, slightly spicy hops, with some chocolate and hints of lactose and cardamon coming through. Finishes with a light bitterness and some roasted malt, chocolate and cardmon lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a light/medium body and medium carbonation.

As is to be expected, this is quite malt-forward, with little hop expressions coming through, except for some rather light herbal and spicy accents. The rather roasted and grainy malts drive this forward, with some chocolate and hints of lactose lending just a little sweetness here, with a great overall balance of roastiness and sweetness. While I could have personally done without the lactose here, which is not exactly to style either, it's thankfully rather subtle, but does lend a really nice mouthfeel here. Overall, this makes for a very well-balanced brew that is rather flavorfull and full-bodied for its ABV.

 

A: Pours a clear but opaque very dark mahogany in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate cola brown + chestnut brown + ruby red + garnet red colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall foamy tan head that slowly reduces to a handful of small patches of thin film surrounded by a large patch of slightly mottled very thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of very lightly roasted + toasted + chocolate + nutty + bready malts with a light amount of lactose sweetness. Light aromas of earthy + spicy + herbal hops.

T: Upfront there are slightly stronger than moderate flavors of very lightly roasted + toasted + chocolate + nutty + bready malts with a light amount of lactose sweetness. That is followed by light flavors of earthy + spicy + herbal hops which impart a light amount of bitterness which lingers slightly and slowly fades away.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth.

O: Easy to drink with a low ABV and well hidden alcohol as well as a lighter smooth mouthfeel. Enjoyable with a pleasant amount of malt complexity and just enough hop to balance it out. Definitely a session beer.