Devil's Thumb
Walnut Brewery

I think I found my new favorite beer! Coffee and chocolate with hints of spice. Dark and delicious.

 

 

 

Served in a shaker pint.

A: Pitch black with a sudsy cream top. Head retention is good and spots of soapy lace are left behind.

S: Very light on the nose. Espresso and black coffee are pretty much it.

T: Starts out very thin and watery. The flavor thankfully builds from there to reveal coffee and baking chocolate. Bitterness is burnt and very mild. Gets acidic toward the end, but not overly so.

M: The thin body has bubbly carbonation to it.

D: I honestly wasn't impressed by this. Too thin and watery for my tastes. Walnut has done much better work.

A - Very dark brown, small head, lots of lacing.

S - Strong aroma overall - coffee, dark chocolate, a little burnt sugar and caramel.

T - Espresso, cacao, a lot of sweetness, chicory, moss, earth, forest floor, a hint of motor oil. Aftertaste is of bad coffee and intense mossy bitterness. Very complex, but not fantastic.

M - A little smooth, but harsh from the bitterness. Medium body. A little refreshing.

D - Nothing amazing. It would be hard to drink more than one pint or two. It is worth a try.

Ordered at the Walnut Brewery brewpub itself, and enjoyed alongside a heaping stack of nachos. The beer is pitch black, with no discernable highlights at all. It was a bright day out, and holding it in front of the windows woulda/coulda/shoulda revealed any highlights to be seen!

The aroma was very bitter, both from the hops, and the roasted malts. The mouthfeel was smooth, but also a little unremarkable...which is good. It wasn't bad, put it that way. It just wasn't huge, either.

Tastewise, it was like bitter chocolate, strong coffee, with hints of citrus. Possible there was more to it, but I was ravenous, and the nachos were calling to me! After a mouthful of tortilla chip, cheese, jalapeno, sour cream, and guacamole, all with a bit of salsa on top, I figured my ability to taste the beer with any real discernment had probably passed.

Overall, a very good beer, and the brewpub itself is also highly recommended. Looking around the table at the various sandwiches, soups, nachos, wings, etc, I don't think anyone had anything they didn't like. well, my dad hated the beer they got for him. I think he really wanted a coors... sigh.

A very nice looking black pour, lightens up around the edge. Head is lacking a bit, doesn't look very rich.
Smell of coffee and burnt chocolate, raisin and dark berries.
Tastes much the same. Heavy on the black coffee, some chocolate comes through in the end. Dark fruit gives it a bit of a different edge, but only slightly.
Finishes clean and crisp, not too dry, but enough.