Life Adjacent
Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse

 

Hey I'm catching up, this is my first review backlog from 2021. This beer truly is life adjacent.

Pours a dark brown. Tan head 1/2". Good retention. The aroma hits like Central Waters bourbon barrel scotch ale, has plenty of bourbon, hint of brown sugar, oak, brown malt, caramel, toffee. That is to say, it smells real nice.

The taste pushes much in the same way, there isn't that earthy bitterness on this one, and there isn't any alcohol heat. So we've overcome our 2 biggest reasons bArF doesn't get into scotch ales. A smooth caramel and bourbon treat every which way. Its remarkably easy to drink, especially for a bourbon barrel double digit abv beer. Again, this just smacks like Central Waters, which is the highest of compliments here. Without resorting to anything beyond mild brown sugar sweetness, this beer glides down the gullet, which looks even cooler if you also have a mullet.

This beer is very nice, very evil at a very nice price.

Can from lupulo.

Thanks to riotontheroad for this 12 oz. extra consumed on a day or rest. Literally. It was an effort to get out of bed this morning.

The pour is a ruddy mahogany that has just enough top-hat to look like a beer. Nose is faint, but what appears is malty caramel.

Life Adjacent ticks all the standard boxes. There’s a mild scotch ale in there mirroring the nose with mild malts, mild caramel, mild roast. Belly warming but not boozy on the tongue. Mid-palate brings mild barrel notes (both bourbon & oak) that slowly build as the beer enters the bottom half hour of its warming & rescues the beer from the throes of mediocrity. Its strength is the easy-sipping nature of this beast.

The barrel is fairly nice but without enough bicep to hide a ho-hum base beer. Pretty good.

Can labeled "Finds A Way, Batch1" into a snifter. Gifted from a buddy.

L: Dark mahogany, slight chill haze, with nearly a finger of khaki tan head that quickly dissipates to a ring at the glass edge, left no lacing.

S: Nose is dominated roasted malt and barrel aspects (vanilla and whiskey). More subtle toffee and caramel aspects show more as it warms.

T: Follows nose but with less barrel prominence, more sweetness than expected from the toffee and caramel aspects. ABV is well integrated, just the slightest hint of heat.

F: Low-medium bodied with moderate carbonation, thin syrupy on the tongue, tiniest bit of heat, coats on swallow.

O: Very approachable for the ABV, a little thin and sweet for my palate and preferences. Barrel aspects are nice, but might be better more pronounced. I've got another can that I'll let sit and see if the sweetness fades any bit. Nice beer, but not something I'd seek out.

Life Adjacent from Urban Roots. $ 10.49(Including shipping)/12 oz can ($ 0.874/oz). From Craftshack, San Diego, CA. Received 9/21/20. Reviewed 10/3/20.
Can stamped on bottom “FINDS A WAY BATCH #1” but no date. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 59 degrees.
Appearance – 3.25.
First pour – Medium amber (SRM 12), hazy.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque and murky. When held to direct light, amber brown and murky around the edges.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.5 cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, initially fizzy but quickly settles to medium density with a few rocks, average retention, diminishing to a three mm crown and a thin complete cap with rocks.
Lacing – None – not unexpected at 10.5% ABV.
Aroma – 4 – Malt, weakly roasted (i.e. toasted), and caramel. No hops, no yeast. As it warms further, some bourbon.
Flavor – 4 - Begins with caramel and toffee, slightly sweet, ends with a touch of bourbon. No hops, no yeast, no peat. Just a trace of diacetyl. No alcohol (10.5% ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No dimethylsulfide. A bit of gastric warming occurs.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, slightly syrupy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 (Minus 0.25 point for undated container) The bourbon raises this above the average Wee Heavy, otherwise there is no justification for the price point.