Weekapaug Gruit
Magnolia Pub & Brewery

Served on tap in a small goblet at Magnolia Pub & Brewery in San Francisco.
A: Pours a clear, amber color with a one quarter inch, white head, low retention, and limited to absent lacing.
S: Very light aromas of cherry and rosemary/sage, pine, lavender and lilac.
T: Palate follows the nose within a solid core of caramel malt. Herbal and floral flavors front and center.
M: Medium bodied with moderate effervescence.
O: Enjoyed it. These gruits are always a pleasant curiosity.

 

 

Brown and light red appearance, no head. Aroma was very much forest berries. The stuff that only birds eat.

Taste reminded me of other styles of beer that should be extinct, it had all the nature elements of sticks and foraging berries like kvass. Some sweetness. Spice rack all over it.

Not a fan of style, hard to rate for once.

On-tap at Magnolia Pub & Brewery, San Francisco, CA

A: The beer is clear dark red in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short white head that left swirls of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of herbs are present in the nose—rosemary seems to stand out in particular—along with some hints of lavender.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of rosemary with some bits of lavender, neither of which are overpowering. Underweight notes of malts are also perceptible—among these faint amounts of toffee are present.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has just about a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is very easy to drink and quite flavorful. I liked the blend of herbs that were used.

Serving type: on-tap

 

Never seen a dark gruit before this one. A huge lavender and rosemary nose on this brown looking ale with an enormous cream froth head for an unhopped beer. I taste way more Pune than other herbs in it though, presumably from the rosemary. Real long taste herbal almost like green tea, a little floral, nice chocolate malt on it too, not used to any real grain character in the style, but it's such a great change of pace. Piney as anything for no hops. Drinkable too. This is a beer for the adventurous palate no doubt, but a reward worth having for sure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured on tap at the brewery into a snifter. 20oz pour.

Ruby-brown in color, complete with a frothy, almost foam-like white head. Very viscous and bread-like (and I believe they upped the ABV a bit in this batch), but with relatively low head retention. Not much lacing, nor any alcohol legs of any kind. Solid appearance overall - looks like a bowl blackberry juice and tea with thick molasses added. Which, in all honestly, is pretty awesome.

The aroma smells of dark fruits and wild spices, ranging from cherries to molasses, and from bark to black tea. There's an underlying smoked flavor beneath the strong toasted malt presence, which is what you'd get in a Scotch ale... Except in this case, there's little woody presence to speak of, and spices in substitution of the hops showcase earthy notes all around, ranging from dried grass, twigs, saffron, light clove, and bittered tamarind. Definitely filled with flavors, but not necessarily super complex. Everything balances out quite decently.

The flavor and mouthfeel, however, are where I lose my enthusiasm. At first there's an immediate molasses, tobacco-y flavor that floods the palate, only to follow soured raspberries, juniper berries, bark, and lightly smoked dark malts. Normally I enjoy these flavors, but together here they produce a tannic astringency reminiscent sipping a cup of black tea - except in this case the said tea bag has seeped for too long. It gets worse as it warms up, and loses carbonation, as the liquid becomes gradually thinner and almost watery by the end. It eventually resembles more and more of a cold tea drink that has been gleefully pranked with twigs, dirt, and toasted molasses.

Not sure how to rate to style here... But given the product as it is, it's not too impressive in the long run. Definitely worth consuming for novelty purposes, and while the flavors are seriously well placed, it's simply too thin, tannic, and not as hearty as desired. Would love to try the barrel aged version, however!

 

 

This is quite a dark gruit. Heather abounds on the nose. Flavor is quite deep. Much richer and less light than the few other gruits I have had. But hey, what do I know. Pretty smooth. Nice subtle herbal tones, but nothing really comes at you at 100mph. Smooth and easy drinking. Definitely a good stab at a rarely touched style.

I'm rapidly becoming a big fan of this ancient style, the allure of drinking something from old Scandinavia is really interesting, Skol indeed,
I had a glass of this excellent Gruit, Gruut, either works at Magnolia last week.
Served in a 12oz goblet, comes a deep brown, ruby, borderline black tone. A light, effervescent tan head caps off the brew.
Aroma of yarrow, musty oak, chamomile, ginger, rosemary, a tart earthy funk mixed with sour, yet rustic, sweet and malty all at once. There is a lot going on in the aroma, pinpointing it down to several aromatics is increasingly difficult.
Flavor is upfront spicy, and herbal, much like strong tea. Rosemary, yarrow, wood, lemon, ginger, black tea, chamomile, and a bucket list of others combine to create a complex sweet-sour-earthy-bright-dense brew that is blowing my mind.
Mouthfeel from the appearance is assumed to be heavy, but with a heavy mix of spices and the right level of carbonation, this beer is suddenly highly drinkable.
I spoke with the Brewer,Ben, when they were brewing this beer, but never gave any indication that this was going to be such a complex and highly enjoyable beer.
Cheers, and I look foward to enjoying it again in the future.