Delightfully Ominous
Riseform Brewing Co.

a robustly flavored but highly drinkable take on the style, i appreciate both the heavy handed use of deeply roasted barley and specialty dark malts, and the lower alcohol content, i feel like these have been running higher and higher in recent years, a nice change of pace here. the beer is solid if a little generic, great low end on it, but it hits on all the familiar notes, bitter espresso, burnt wood, even light licorice among the dark base notes this brings. that said, its also got the same middle crystal malty caramel sweetness in the middle, a dry chocolate malt layer, and some brown sugar linger on the swallow, its a profile i have tasted hundreds of times, one i love, but not one that really delivers anything new. i do think this is probably the most flattering use of their house yeast on the menu, that little bit of european breadiness in the ferment gives this some cool cohesive expansiveness, and even though its not quite dry, the finish is delicious and the aftertaste is lovely. this is wintery and sturdy in texture but definitely a pint beer at the same time. solid effort here. if you like the style, you will like this beer.