Pinch The Piston
Against The Grain Brewery

Out of the growler, this beer pours a clear copper with a thin, quickly receding khaki mousse. When held up to the light, subtle amber and brownish highlights are clearly visible around the edges of the glass. Though the head dies away quickly, a thin ring of white lace lingers all the way to the bottom of the glass.

The nose initially presents fairly strong aromas of caramel, brown butter, butterscotch, dark bread, and moist earth. As the beer warms a bit and settles in the glass, the butterscotch and brown butter aromas become a little stronger. I'm not used to German-style altbiers with such an obvious diacetyl scent, but this is really far from unpleasant.

In the mouth, notes of brown butter, dark bread, caramel, butterscotch, lemon, lime, fresh herbs, and grass wash across the palate. The finish is decidedly clipped and mild with grassy, citrusy noble hop notes blending nicely with gentle bread and caramel flavors. Though this ale was designed to be malt-heavy, there is a very nice balance of malt and hop flavors on display.

This ale is medium-to-full in body, very thick, and firm, with a mostly dryish feel to it. Carbonation is subdued, but not quite sluggish, and as a result imparts a creamy, silky texture to this ale. I was reminded of Zum Uerige Hausbraurei's classic alt while drinking this beer. In many respects, the two feel very similar in the mouth.

In the end, this is a worthy altbier, even if it is a bit atypical of the style. The obvious diacetyl aroma initially bugged me, but as I mentioned earlier, does not really take all that much away from the ale's nose. In trying to give this ale a fair shake, I keep coming back to several German and American classics (Alaskan Brewing's Amber, Uerige Alt, Pinkus Muller Munstersch Alt), which is probably not all that bad of a thing. Try this one if you are a fan of classic German, Irish, and British ales.