Baphomet
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company & Taproom

 

Dark brownish amber with a decent foam in the tumbler. Long-lasting lacing and foam. Sharp and sudsy on the tongue.

The best feature is a musty, cedar-wood barbecued flavor. The aroma is really nice, with that resiny smell. But oh, man, is this bitter. It's the kind of bitterness that makes me salivate involuntarily.

From the 22 oz bottle purchased at 99 Bottles in Federal Way. Endless bitterness.
3.75 4.0 2.75 3.75 2.0

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a dark orange amber with a fine two finger khaki head with great retention and lots of thick lacing. Rich aroma dominated by caramel malt with some nuttiness and light grassy hops. Flavor follows, with rich semisweet caramel malt, dark dried fruit, nuts with grassy and somewhat resinous hops developing to carry over into a resinous, earthy hop finish. Medium to full bodied with pleasant creaminess. As a fan of malt, this is exactly the kind of red ale I like, the malt is thick and flavorful. The hops have little herbal flavor, but I'm drinking this about 6 months after bottling (I never saw this on the shelves until now) and doubt that it had ideal storage conditions. So I'm probably missing some hop flavor, on the other hand, perhaps the hops have mellowed a little bit (others have noted a big, unbalanced hop hit). This easily qualifies as an imperial red ale, bordering on a malty barleywine. I like it quite a bit and regret not having tried it fresh. Surprised that this has gotten so little love. Not for the malt averse. I'm going to be off the map with my score on this, but I'd buy this any time again.

 

 

22oz into a tulip. Pours a deep crystal clear mahogany w/ a big khaki head, good retention, lace.

Aroma is fruity and malty with floral hops.

Taste is likewise sweet and malty. Figs, dates, brown sugar, spice. Floral and bitter hops leave a lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is sticky and full-bodied.

Overall a big rich malty strong ale. Maybe a little rough around the edges, but I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

Served in nonic. Poured a clean, clear dark amber with about 1/4 inch of off-white head that had moderate retention and lacing.

The aroma was fairly typical for the style, mostly sweet malts with just a bit of a hop tone. Pretty similar in the flavor profile, although the hops were a bit more notable. There was a bit of an odd funk at the very back of the palate.

The body was the typical for the style, medium, and smooth. Drinkability was OK, except for that funky finish. Overall, an OK brew, probably worth a shot if you see it, but nothing to get heartbroke over if you miss it.

22oz bottle at 41 F split between two large snifters. 362 D-1 1051 is the bottle code printed on the bottom.

Pours dark, with a big creamy tan head that fades very slowly, looks to be lacing like crazy. Lots of carbonation. Lots of sediment in the bottom of the bottle; the majority of it remained in the bottle, and most of the rest is in the other snifter. Smell is muted, caramel, slight smoke, slightly bready.

Taste is bitter, starts out reminding me of charred meat and slowly forms into pine resin. Very overbalanced toward bitterness, there are some other interesting flavors around it but hard to nail down. Probably the bitterest 80 IBU beer (according to the label) I've ever tasted. There is some caramel sweetness, and maybe some chocolate bitterness.

Mouthfeel is slightly thick. Overall, unbalanced toward bitterness, but not nonredeemable.