DeGroen's Altfest
Baltimore Brewing Company

Tasted at DeGroen's on 6/6/04

Appearance: Amber - resinous colour with a thin off white head that remains as a sticky lacing.

Smell: Sweet malt, estery apricot and peach notes with a grapefruit hop background.

Taste: Sweet initially though dry and a touch alcoholic on the finish. Everything in betweeen is spicy hoppy with some complex fruit flavors dodging and weaving among the malt and hops.

Mouthfeel: Slightly oily, with nice creamy carbonation

Drinkability: Very much so, just watch the 7% abv.

I must admit, I was a bit taken back by this one. A promising brew initially, the aroma and flavour were really (and I mean really) too sweet for this style. The colour is a bit different than what I am accustomed to in this style, but thet rarely throws me. Still, a tasty alt, with good crispness and charachter. I will definately give it a second try next time around and re-review.

Zum wohl!

My first thought when served this was: It's the wrong color!! Where's the alt?? Anyway, this is what i thought: The glass was filled with a cloudy orange glow, with a fruity aroma. It was medium bodied, and slightly sweet, with some apricot notes. There was some bitterness, but not much. Actually not a bad tasting beer, smooth and refreshing, you wouldn't know it was 7%, but I don't really think it was an altbier...pat

Light golde-orange beer. Thin head -- gone fast. A little hangs around the rim for a while. Smells ok. Not too much there - nuts when you try hard enough. Very nice tasting. Thick. Feels very pleasant on the tongue and very drinkable. It's a nice change of pace when beer drinking.

Altbier? Hardly. I know altbiers come in all different range of colors and flavors, but this doesn't make any of the style criteria. No hop nose even when sampled out of an altbier styled glass is the first indicator. The second is the fruity flavor of the malt - the malt should be clean and nutty tasting - this was not. I wonder if this was even fermented and lagered at lower temps? The finish was unremarkable for an alt also. Just some grassy bitterness with just a touch of dryness. Although it wasn't a bad tasting beer overall, it just didn't cut it as an altbier.

A hazy (it's unfiltered) deep-marmalade colored body is topped by a creamy white head that holds quite well and leaves nice, thick rings of lace. There's caramel and ripe, sharp fruit in the nose. It's quite charming and certainly out of the ordinary. The body is medium and it has a very fine, moderate, natural carbonation that leaves it quite smooth in the mouth. Rich Munich malts with a touch of caramel reside in the flavor along with the same distinct fruitiness found in the nose (cherry, berries). Some floral and lightly spicy hops make an appearance as well, and it finishes dry with a lingering floral hop flavor and bitterness. A really unique beer that's very well-balanced and quite drinkable. Certainly worth trying.

A pleasant tea colored brew, “Chill Hazed” and the head purposeful in its size, the lace nice thick sheets to smother the glass. The aroma of fresh cut grass, light hints of yeast and malt also present, clean and fresh. Lightly sweet at the front, the top skimpy and the finish mildly hopped the carbonation moderate to light and a long lasting dry aftertaste.