16°
Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse

 

 

Right out the gate, I'm with luscious on this one. All good beers, but tend to prefer them on the lighter end of the spectrum.

Pours a light amber color. Bigger. 3/4" off white head, dense. Good clarity to the amber appearance. The aroma hit a light fall leaves, caramel, toffee, noble hop like presence with a little hit of spiciness to it.

The taste brings a light sweetness into the fold. Still hitting those fall like notes but like its a warm fall day with the nice levity in the mouthfeel despite the heavier normalized feel of caramel, leaves, etc. Light hit of warming alcohol in the mouthfeel that the other less strong beer in the series didn't hit you with. Not problematic, but you know you're not in light beer territory at this point. Never my love will I leave you or deceive you.

I remember when there used to be a phenomenal wordsmith here but they ran him out. Now they let some weaker shit just roll with it in the reviews. But you have to wonder if lessons learned or just that skinner the kids are out of touch vibe from the usual suspect(s).

my first from these guys but it was good enough that i already bought another one from them, had this on tap, its a really nice, slightly stronger, old world lager, maybe not quite what we usually expect from things called imperial pils, but i have no complaints. just called special czech lager where i scored it, it has a gorgeous pour, epic clarity, brassy to bronze toned as the light fluctuates, good sparkle, lots of bubbles collecting into two inches of frothed up sudsy head. i get some sweetness in the nose, honey-like but not toasted or really showing its deeper color, floral hops of the old world well dosed, and some amount of biscuit character, definitely european, quite a bold lager yeast profile too, balanced and intriguing, only loosely familiar even for a classic type beer, impressively refined. the flavor runs the same course, less hoppy perhaps, but with nice malt depth, pushing now into almost graham cracker range for a second, some warmth to it but not from alcohol, good body carries it long, the yeast is wonderful and patient lagering is obvious, minerals and the hops making it earthy and organic feeling, nuanced without necessarily being complex, smooth and slow rolling on the palate, great carbonation, feels kind of naturally conditioned and soft to me, and overall this is quite impressive. it warms up with more hop bitterness at the end but also more sweetness so the balance changes but remains. looking forward to more from urban roots, enjoyed this quite well!

16 and a dream… You remember that shit? Raul just got his license and he felt like Magellan cruising around the world. Nothing could stop him (well, maybe pirates). And nothing could stop me (well, maybe my parents). But I was free! Kind of free!

Anyway, this beer is a good one.

Let go of her, my minions. (Trust me).

Sweet brown bread malty, caramel malts, a lemon floral hoppy nose on this one! Taste follows those brown bread notes upfront...and then a heavy and prominent hoppy bitter finish. Am I detecting a touch of booziness on the backend as well? This is decent but not my favorite in this great series. 10°>11°>12°>14°>16° IMO.