Double Agent
The Alementary Brewing Co.

Pours a dark burgundy-brown with two fingers of khaki foam atop. Below is notable particle separation, forming a silty riverbed bottom in the glass. Head retention is good. Aroma is roasty, toasty, nutty, bready, caramely malts with hints of chocolate, toffee, molasses, and earthy hops. Malt notes are robust, but come up a shade shy of being stout dark. Flavor profile is, again, a dense wall of malts. Malts are caramely, toasty, bready, and lightly earthy and nutty. Aside from malts, caramel, toffee, and chocolate add a little sweetness. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a robust, heavy nappy texture. Overall, robust with a heavy dose of malts.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz can.

 

 

Picked up at Gary's Wine and Liquor in New Jersey, a couple weeks ago.
Upon opening, as I sniffed and tasted I realized that this is some sort of conglomeration of an altbier and a barleywine. Maybe one of those reclusive doppelstickes, which actually are high ABV-ed altbiers, however, the appearance is black in color and the pour. Barely any head, no lace.
The aroma definitely shows an odd meshing of the barleywine qualities of earthy to grassy hops, a hint of tobacco, a whiff of vanilla but also pushing forth other qualities of dark and milk chocolate. Then there's that 'altbier' earthiness, it's yeasty noticeably (I've had more than enough Long Trail Ales and Alaskan Ambers in my lifetime to know that yeast!).
The flavor was moderately sticky sweet running through all of those prior mentioned aromas. Some black licorice shows up here that I didn't notice in the aroma. Mild aftertaste of earthy/German yeasty to vanilla and dark and milk chocolates strolling in and out of each other.
The mouthfeel was between medium and full bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Good carbonation and ABV. Semi-dry in the finish with some black licorice, German yeasty earthy biscuits and dark chocolate nib-like grip.
Overall, proof that the beer world is getting weirder every day. Barleywine, altbier or doppelsticke, ugh, I have no clue! However, I must admit this is quite a nice problem to have to try and figure the identity crisis of this beer because it is brewed quite well!

 

A: dark, matte black color with a 3 finger dark tan head

S: roasted malt, burnt wood, caramel, grassy hops, pepper spicy yeast. A hint of fig and prunes as well. Dark caramel and oak towards the end

T: burnt wood and bitter roasted malt. A kiss of caramel malt. Chocolate and more wood on the middle of the tongue. Dark fig and subtle raisins hiding in here as well. The finish is more bitter roasted malt

M: medium mouthfeel with mid-strong carbonation

O: a roasty Altbier. It’s dark, yet not too heavy. It’s a fair example of the style