Salty Caramel Truffle
Muskoka Brewery

 

473 ml can served cold into a tulip. Best before May 2, 2019. LCBo purchase for around $3.50 CDN.

Appearance - Dark cola brown, light tan head measuring nearly two fingers in a densely formed foam. Moderate retention, no lacing, but a pretty good looking beer.

Smell - Mineral water, subtle bit of caramel and a subtle undercurrent of something slightly sour. Bread and toffee show up as the beer warms.

Taste - Quite bready, some sweet grain and definitely some caramel, although not getting much saltiness. Taste is pretty thin and doesn't stay for long. Saltiness also shows up after a few sips. It's minor but helps the beer live up to its namesake.

Mouthfeel - Thin tasting and chewy, medium-bodied. Carbonation is pretty light.

Overall - Interesting concept and once you are a few sips in, I kind of do get a salty caramel vibe, but too thin and watery to really to that complex flavor combo justice. Worth a try if you like these sorts of things, but think this could've been better as a doppelbock or stout that tried to highlight these flavors, with intensity ramped up to 9 or 10.

Appearance - Pours a dark nut brown with a finger of off-white head.

Smell - roasted bready and biscuity malts, earthy, and leafy hops, nutty aromas, caramel, lactose, cocoa, and earthy yeast.

Taste - roasted bready and biscuity malts uprfront. The earthy and leafy hops, nutty aromas, caramel, lactose, and cocoa follow suit. The earthy yeast finishes the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes off dry with the roasted malts, nuttiness, caramel, lactose, and cocoa lingering.

Overall - A well-constructed flavoured bock. I wish the flavour of the caramel was a little more pronounced but otherwise a decent example of the style.

Appearance: Poured with not even a half finger of head that didn't lace, nor retain. The body is a nearly black brown and has crimson highlights when put up to the light. Doesn't really show a lot in the way of carbonation.

Smell: I'm catching some light caramel malt, with maybe some mild chocolate toffee. The potency just isn't there, even when the beer has been given ample time to warm up. Nothing offensive, and I suppose as advertised, but it's just plain weak.

Taste: Some mild caramel malt that turns to a slight note of earthy hops. Over time I do get a bit of a sandy possibly salty note, but once again, the potency isn't there. I've had normal Brown ales that have more of a caramel presence then this stuff. Let me say, there is nothing bad about this beer, it's just kind flat and lame. Speaking of flat...

Mouthfeel: The carbonation on this one falls extremely flat, which isn't surprising. It transitions well enough, but there is just so little about it. There is the barest touch of caramel aftertaste, but it's too subdued again.

Drinkability: On the lighter end of medium bodied, and while unoffensive isn't potent enough to be the desert beer it advertises itself as, isn't overly refreshing, it settles down well enough, and it didn't get a drain pour, but I certainly wouldn't buy it again.

Final Thoughts: If you are going to advertise a beer as a salted caramel truffle, it better be big on chocolate, caramel and some kind of salty aspect. This isn't big on anything, and frankly comes across as a very tame brown ale or bock and completely fails as a desert beer that it appears to have been intended to be. This beer for me is starting to telling a tale of the decline of Muskoka in my eyes. I mean after the tinkering they did with their summer weiss, some unimpressive moonlight kettle brews and the god awful Kolsch they put out, I'm really hope that they pull out of this swan dive soon. I'm told they've recently done a big local tweak to their autumn ale, so hopefully that redeems them, because you will want to pass on this one.

Pours a dark brownish red into the glass with some orange tinge as it pours, active carbonation gives it some brief head before fairly quickly fading down to almost nothing. Aroma reminds me of a vanilla porter; but not all that much aroma really. Taste has some definite caramel and vanilla, with a slightly thin metallic finish. Upon further sips, the caramel almost tastes like some cola has been mixed in. Some light burnt malt flavour mixed in there as well but the beer base doesn't fill the taste out as much as I'd like. The carbonation is a bit too biting, but strangely the mouthfeel comes off feeling rather flat at the same time. In the end, this comes off like a gimmick beer & not one of my favourites from Muskoka. Still, if I were out and it were this or a macro, I'd take this & enjoy it.

 

A really light brew across the board. Thin mouth feel, very bland flavour profile, not much by way of smell. Slightly sweet, a hint of salt. Not as sweet as you figure it might be from the name. Quite watery in fact. Some caramel and dry coffee happening. Th-th-that's all folks.

 

 

Can from the LCBO for around $3

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; best before May 23 2018 and served slightly chilled.

Pours clear copper-brown in colour, producing a quarter-inch of limp, bubbly beige head that seems to be in a hurry to be somewhere else. A thin collar of creamy foam is all that remains; no lace, no cap. The aroma is mostly malt-centric, consisting of some well-tempered notes of toasted biscuit, caramel and cocoa powder, alongside very light touches of coffee grounds and indistinct dark fruit. Not bad at all - it smells fairly dessert-like as you'd expect, but it's not exactly a sweet mess, either.

The flavours fall a bit flat in contrast, and the profile overall isn't very cohesive. The base bock beer is characterized by its lightly roasted malt backbone - toasted bread and biscuity notes dominate at first, but are slowly supplanted by a combination of caramel and molasses sweetness. A quick dash of cocoa powder towards the finish briefly holds back the salty caramel sweetness, which comes surging forth at the commencement of its confectionery-like aftertaste. Medium-light in body, with low-ish carbonation levels that prod the surface of the palate in a meek fashion. The texture's a bit flat for my tastes, but otherwise it feels slick and smooth.

Final Grade: 3.26, a forgettable C+. Muskoka's Salty Caramel Truffle probably sounded a lot tastier in theory than it actually ended up being in practice. The underlying bock is decent enough, albeit unmemorable - but the 'caramel truffle' aspect pushes the whole thing way far off to the 'sweet' side, resulting in a ham-fisted, sloppy brew that lacks both subtlety and depth. While I wouldn't say that I disliked this beer, I am having trouble coming up with reasons as to why I might seek out another serving. If you're looking for something dark from this brewery, their Shinnicked Stout is a much more well-constructed beer IMO. Give this one a try if you're curious, but your socks will likely remain firmly in place.

 

Dark brown with a ruby tinge, very little carbonation, and topped with a finger of large bubbled, beige carbonation.

Smells of a light toasted quality.

Tastes of vanilla, rust, light toasted notes, and a hint of coffee. Taste like colour printed paper.

Medium body, medium carbonation.

Got this one today at Sobey's in Gravenhurst. Not loving it, falls short of the name, expectation, Kawartha Dairy, and on all counts. Drinking in Muskoka, Feb 9th, 2018.