Brewhouse Rarities: Earl Grey Black Wheat
Flying Dog Brewery

 

Very dark brown almost black. Aromas of molasses and raisin, malty and sweet. Light to medium bodied and sweet date body throughout, dry finish. Not much of the Earl Grey is discernible.

 

Undated bottle into pint glass. Pours a deep black, with a modest tan head. Toasted malt up front, but not a sweet beer. Maybe some vanilla, just possibly a hint of tea (or am I trying too hard here?), and a nutty finish. Everything is pretty subdued, though. Medium-to-thin mouthfeel, fairly crisp and refreshing. No hops bitterness. I'm not sure exactly what impression this beer leaves - it's not exactly bland, but it certainly doesn't score high on the "wow" meter. Interesting, but I wouldn't revisit (not that I'll have the chance, since it's a one-off).

 

12oz bottle into a weizen glass.

A: Nice! Nearly opaque black with amber/brown hues around the edges with the proper lighting. 3/4" tan head that recedes slowly. Lacing is very impressive for the style.

S: I just don't get the tea here. Chocolate, vanilla & nuttiness really jump out at me. Although really, it's not a very aromatic brew. Maybe a hint of frutiness, although it's pretty ambiguous.

T: There's the tea! It's very mild, but detectable. Along with cocoa, vanilla, coffee & hints of berries. I get a slight raspberry twinge toward the back-end of the mid-palate, which is kinda cool. The finish has a pleasant hop-kick just to wake you up.

M: Very thick, malty richness. It has a bit of a velvety, creamy quality that I don't typically associate with Dunkelweiss. Basically, this brew has the mouthfeel of a Guinness draught. Not a bad thing.

O: For what it actually does, I'll give this brew some credit. It's truly unique, but miles away from it's proposed 'style'. I'm surprised by the prominent cocoa notes & general lack of Earl Grey qualities. If a Guinness & an Altbier had a kid, this would be it.

 

 

12 oz bottle, poured into a pint glass

Appearance: Pours a beautiful, completely opaque, pitch-black color with a half of a finger of caramel-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that completely covered the top of the beer.

Aroma: Not much in the aroma department, which is surprising, as this beer is supposedly brewed with tea, which is usually very aromatic. I do get some faint notes of toasted malt and wheat, as well as a touch of…chocolate, maybe. Nothing in the way of tea however.

Taste: Interesting beer. Lots of toasted malt and wheat flavor up front, as well as some slight sour notes, but from what I don’t know. Maybe lemon? There’s a touch of honey-like sweetness, but not a lot. I don’t get much the way of black tea, or any tea for that matter. I also don’t get much in the way of the typical wheat-beer flavors, either. No bananas, or clove, or coriander, or bubblegum, nothing typical to the style. There is nothing that says wheat-beer about this beer except for the label. It’s an odd, interesting beer.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, crisp and nicely effervescent, as there’s quite a lot of carbonation to tickle the taste buds. With an ABV of 6.3%, there is no alcohol on the palate.

Overall: As stated earlier, this is an interesting beer, odd and unique. I’m not sure whether or not I like it, but I don’t dis-like it either. It’s a very odd, unique beer. Maybe it would be more successful in taking advantage of the flavors of tea it if was a stout rather than a wheat-beer. Only recommended for the novelty of the beer.

my review just for me

 

 

I was pleased to see this at Cumberland liquors -enjoyed this 12oz in a mug

The color is black with opaque clarity and medium tan band of 2 fingers with very fine bead. The smell is very good with lots of tea in aroma with an almost anise type smell with floral and mildly medicinal scent with earl grey smokiness in the nose. The feel is medium bodied with moderately high carbonation and roasty texture with lightly sweet body with a tea-like astringency, spice and dry roasted texture in the finish.

The taste is very good with nicely blended flavor of dark toasted wheat with floral tea flavor of earl grey mid palate and light yeast accent with slight citrus element and toasted tea adding to the malt roasted flavor with dry almost spicy robust finish. Overall I liked this -a very good dark wheat...not so sure about traditional dunkelweizen, but hey if that is what the brewer intended...I think it represents a dark wheat with plenty of tea in the taste to compliment with a rich toasted wheat body both are represented well which is not common for specialty beers such as this

 

 

The tea flavor is subtle, not very in your face. However, it does not meld with the flavors of the beer.

 

 

Dark brown. Kind of grey. Huge bubbly soap grayish head.
Smell of burnt toast, tea, clove
Taste is the same as the smell. Subtle banana, tea aftertast .