Winter Gruit Ale
Zero Gravity Craft Brewery

On tap. Light, nearly clear brown. Not much head formation, but good lacing left throughout. Nose has lots of spice, spruce, and cola notes, very reminiscent of Spanish vermouth. Taste follows to suit - cola, musk, pine, spruce, menthol, citrus peel. Lots going on here and would make a great alternative to an aperitif. Mouthfeel is light but nice crisp carbonation. Highly enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Hop & Vine's Vermont Exchange

I love a good gruit and this one delivers nicely. Pours medium amber with a one-finger head. Aroma combines lemongrass, rose petals, and peppercorns. On the tongue, it's lightly sweet, like a rose-infused honey syrup. Highly carbonated with a lively body. One of my favorites of the line-up.

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at American Flatbread, Burlington, VT

Poured a slightly hazed amber with a small, sturdy, white head. Sweet malts in the aroma, a variety of fruits and spices and herbs. Taste of sweet malts, citrus zest, orange blossom, spiced tea and potpourri, basil... Decent, but not the best around, style-wise. Light-medium-bodied, a bit astringent in the end, but overall not bad, and pretty easily drinkable.

"Strong ale crafted with sweet gale, yarrow, mugwort and sweet woodruff, brewed on All Hallows Eve, 2005. 6.5%"

Getting caught up on some of my old notes from a beer festival. In short, this was not an appealing beer to me. It was thin bodied with plenty of flavor, but odd. It was good for a change of pace from the others but too mild to stand out.

Opaque, light orange body under a good head.

Soft grains, some spices, kind of a wheat taste. Nice.
Taste of some spices (labrador tea) with minimal malt and hops profiles. Nice taste.

Moderate thickness, feel with a beefy 6.5 per cent ABV, some interesting tastes.
Fine drinkability but this is another great beer from flatbread.

Huge pillow of off-white head(everything was liberally carbed that night). Grainy, average amber color.

Dry basil, fruit pits, pepper, lemon & orange rind, big soapy lavender tone.

Flavorwise: mellow biscuit flavors that get totally overwhelmed by dryed thyme, hibiscus/other tea similarities, & heather. A little too much like potpourri. In combination with the alcohol, the expected bittergreen notes hit like a throat shot after taking a wrong turn into the perfume department at Macy's. I'm not sure if the thin body helped or hindered either.

Due to time constraints, I did drink my serving(12oz) without too much hesitation.

Off their tap in December of '08 this rotating brew (also know as the Solstice Gruit) was a cloudy, apricot-amber color. The tan head retained modestly as a collar and left spotty dollops of lacing. The aroma was like a Flemish sour, tart, herbal and dry with hints of vinegar. The flavors were totally different from the aroma, throwing me for a loop! It started with a twang of yeast and then went into dry grains followed by rich butterscotch and caramel. The rich malts were not balanced by much in the way of hops but some of the more herbal notes helped it feel well thought out. The mouthfeel was good but it definitely left an oily slick on my tongue, the body was medium/full and the carbonation was soft. I found the sweet/herbal balance pleasant, the experience unique and the beer generally quaffable. High marks.