Obscura en Olympia
Ilk Beer

2025-02-02
16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Don't see a date on it. Bought it at Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park yesterday.

Pours dark brown-red with a big, fluffy head that collapses into a finger-thick lumpy mountain range, moderate carbonation. Smell is nuts, lemon, pine resin, orange rind.

Taste is a toffee but not so sweet, lots of nut and a hint of dates, maybe a little dark cherry. Pine bitterness mingles with bark, pine and lemon come across as leaves and earthy bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light and clean. Overall, nice beer.

Poured from the can, the beer pours a dark reddish amber color with good head retention and considerable lacing. The beer is certainly attractive enough. On the nose I pick up sweet malt, with an underlying roasty quality. There's also some noticeable dry citrus, suggesting a well hopped red ale. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely. On the palate the malt flavor manifests as a blend of cherry and applesauce, with a dry, hoppy, refreshing finish. This is a very enjoyable, easy to drink red ale. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a dry, bitter, clean finish. The modest alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, and so drinkability is quite good in this beer.

Impressive effort by this new to me brewery. I'm not usually a big fan of red ales, as I find the roasty character off putting. However, the hoppy bitterness seems to counter that characteristic very well, making for a very enjoyable drinking experience.