Chaga Groove
Earth Eagle Brewings

On tap at Earth Eagle, the beer was a dark brown pour with a soapy head that hung around for a while.

Smell - very earthy, herbal, a little touch of maple, a small contribution from the nutmeg, a little woody.

The flavor is unexpectedly light for a beer this dark. Definitely earthy, but not overbearing. There's a bit of sweetness, and the maple is pretty clear but not syrupy sweet. The nutmeg spice comes in late in the taste as does a little chicory coffee. There is almost a root beer or sassafras quality to the beer.

The beer is light and fairly effervescent, a little warmth from the 8-ish percent alcohol.

Overall, this is a very interesting beer that is light yet flavorful. Pleasant and easy to drink. Recommended.

I had two growlers of it and made notes on each one. The first growler was on 8/3 and the second growler was a week later and was the last one of the batch --my friend tried getting one too but they said it was out. Pours dark brown/black, earthy, root, herbal flavors, along with a lightness that almost reminded me of a sarsaparilla for some sips especially in the first batch. Slight sweetness from maple sap. Spiciness is noted as well, which must be from the nutmeg. An almost smoky flavor in aftertaste that gives it a a lot of character. Very drinkable for 8.0% not a strong solvent/alcohol flavor, yet a slight burn/warming sensation along with a bit of sour and bitterness in back of throat, in the second bottom of barrel growler it was almost reminiscent of a red wine at times. Overall I'd say this was a very complex gruit, with many flavors --it almost changed with each sip. I thoroughly enjoyed both growlers, but especially the first one.

 

 

Aged in apple brandy barrels

nother outstanding gruit from Earth Eagle.

This beer pours dark black with a decent head and great carbonation.

Smells a bit boozy from the apple brandy barrels that they age it in.

The taste messes with your head. From a beer that black, you automatically a ton of roasty flavors, but there are none to be found up front... but they hit you at the end. The darkness mainly comes from the Chaga that they use (a parasitic fungus that grows in cold climates on birch trees). The taste is earthy, a bit boozy and woody from the brandy barrel, and then a bit of spice hits you at the end from the nutmeg, and a touch of sweetness from what I assume was the maple sap that they brewed the beer with.

A wonderful and unique offering. I love it when a brewery dares to do something this different.