Absorbing All Wonder
Wonder Aleworks

this is objectively well made beer, maybe one of the only ones that stood out to me here as such, its a very nice black ipa, bitter and bold, woodsy and northwestern, but light to drink, especially for its higher abv. shiny obsidian colored from the tap with a lasting inch of deep tan foam, frothy and well refined looking. pine and spruce and juniper in the nose, nicely set with roasty black malts and a hint of espresso, nothing from the ferment, one of the few here like that, tidy and clean, and then just a little center sweetness too, but this isnt malty and heavy and overly balanced out, its assertive and roasty and bitter. the hops come across as familiar varietals but exceedingly fresh, very pleasant. the flavor follows, and its cool how early the hops start in this, i get good herbal gin, faint rosemary, lime zest, dank weed right away, all through this, bold but never green, and more fruity than most of these, a cool complexion for the style. the roast is nice, more dark chocolate than coffee in the taste, smooth as can be, some oats perhaps in the grain bill, its soft like that but without the body, this is a gentle medium at the most. a little tobacco as it warms, just a touch of alcohol which fits in well, and some hop spiciness on the swallow. this is real solid, not sure why this style ever fell out of vogue, cool to see it coming back a little bit. among the best beers in this place when we visited...