Paul's Christmas Vacation
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

 

Pours almost black with a simple sliver of foam. Looks like a bigger beer.

Smells of chocolatey coffee, licorice, molasses, sweet malts, alcohol, and a light smokiness.

Mocha, molasses, smokiness, licorice, cinnamon sugar, almost stout-y malts, muted earthy hop, and integrated spice. Really tasty. Reminds me a little of Batch 9000.

Drinks smooth. Feels got. Softly carbonated, thickly wet body.

Killer strong ale.

Pours a ruddy dark brown color with an off white head that recedes to a ring. Aroma of roasted malt and ripe dark fruits. Some vanilla and smoke on the back end of the aroma, with no real hint of the alcohol content.

In the taste, dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, sweet tobacco. Roasted malts, charcoal and a small hint of alcohol round out the finish.

The body is full, smooth, creamy and dries out a bit. Malts, hops and a wood tone alcohol flavor linger into the aftertaste.

Overall, this a delicious dark ale. I've had three drafts tonight and all were delicious.

 

A surprise draft on Mt Washington in Pittsburgh, PA.

16 ounce poured a dark brown/tan. Smells a little hoppy.

At first sip, I noticed a great body. There was some hoppyness, but not too much. Nice and malty, with some citrus/pine. Much better than expectations. Not like many other Christmas Ales. Can't believe this is 10%. Tastes like 4%.

Very drinkable, almost deadly. One of my favorite Duck Rabbit beers.

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at D's 6 packs and Dawgs before the East End Gratitude release. I think this was around $6 for a 16oz pour. Served in a pint glass and enjoyed with a Big Ben dog.

The beer looks nice in the pint. There are amber, copper, orange and brown notes and some active carbonation visible in the slightly cloudy but relatively clear body. There's a small white head and some nice lace.

The first scent makes me think of another beer. It's malty and hoppy and jumps out of the glass. There's huge pine and grapefruit notes atop a caramel and toasted malt body. Where have I smelled this before?

One sip and the answer is clear. This beer is almost exactly the same flavor/smell as Great Lakes Nosferatu! And that's a good thing. Huge pine and citrus make the beer flavorful and somewhat bitter. A wonderful toasted malt base with some sweet caramel and maybe even a touch of chocolate sets the base nicely. Some booze comes out but the hoppy aftertaste manages to soothe the savage beast. Nicely done, this is huge, flavorful and delicious.

The beer is medium bodied with a nice kiss of carbonation. Some lingering bitterness then a sweet finish. Very drinkable for a 10%. Glad to have tried this!

Pours a deep reddish brown color with a thick brownish white head and tons of lacing. Smells of vanilla, roasted malts and booze. Tastes of roasted malts, warm brown sugar, honey, malts, and a little toffee and hops. Mouthfeel medium and drinkability is high. Not bad at all.

What a pleasure it was to be able to get a growler of this one, (Go Calton). Served from a one liter growler into a nonic I had the pleasure of enjoying this one last night.

Pour was an ice hazelnut amber with light golden colors shining through for the majority of the session. Nice light cloudiness to it fades quickly and a huge head of white forms on the top of the glass that coats everything it sees. Really strong aroma, enormous, with tons of ripe, fresh hops that tear apart the air around them. One of the best smelling ales I think I have ever come across in my life. Ridiculously smooth with the ABV so well hidden I could not believe it. Rich hops, with sweet juice of pineapple, grapefruit, and mounds of candied sugar, Wonderful blend here and strong, wow. Lighter feel then I would have thought given the power of it but it actually came across a touch crisp to be honest which was quite surprising. Smooth finish just leaves candy sugar and fresh citrus juice on the palate with a huge, dry finish.

Overall as solid as the day is long. I could not get enough of this one, and that was evident by my sleeping arrangements last night. One of the best I have ever had, hands down go get this.

This was one of the highlights from a flight of 4 ounce samplers I had the other night at Bocktown. Appears a pale/amber clear filtered body with an off white tan head. Aromatics were surprisingly hoppy a nice escape from the typical spiced/malt heavy winter seasonal. Maybe hints of spices added but amongst that was a sturdy pine/citrus hop combo. If I wasn't driving this would have been my whole pour for sure, I should have gotten a growler of it. Citrus/caramel/pine combine with hints of winter spice but I'm not sure if there's actual spice additions or a combination of the hops, malts, and yeast used. Complex and tasty kept me wanting more after my four ounce portion was gone. Mouthfeel had moderated carbonation no cloying effects, not too hot with alcohol actually well hidden booze. Drinkability overall would have been my beer of choice if circumstances were different I hope to catch this again before it's all gone in the Burgh.

Pours a clean orange-ish to amber color with a light tan head. In the aroma, grapefruit like citrus hops. In the taste, a nice small gingerbread like malt back to a huge bitter grapefruit like hop. A small bite and medium bodied mouthfeel, with a dry and hoppy aftertaste. It's big, but hides the alcohol. It's hoppy, but comes from a brewery that is the dark beer specialists. It's really good!

On tap at Duckworths in Charlotte, served in a small chalice.

Pours an amber/orange color with a moderate amount of off white head that recedes fairly quickly leaving spotty lacing and a crown on the beer that remains until the beer is gone.

The aroma is loaded with piney and citrusy hops. The malt backbone is mainly caramel and fairly sweet, with just a hint of alcohol. Really a straight forward big aroma that is very inviting.

The taste is very much like the smell; huge piney hop presence, with some citrusy hop undertones. The sweet caramel malty presence doesn't quite balance out the hops, but it does compliment them very well. There is just the slightest alcohol burn that only becomes noticable as the beer warms. I would never have guessed that this was a 10% beer based on taste alone. Medium bodied and mildly carbonated, finishes slightly dry. Very drinkable

Overall this is a terrific beer

On tap at the Sharp Edge tonight.

A- Body is a dark red-when help up to the light it shines a transparent ruby red-absolutely beautiful. Served with a 1-2 finger slghtly off-white soapy head. This eventually fades to a thin collar but some lacing is left behind in the glass.

S- Nose is bold and full of hops. Lots of grapefruit and citrus-with moderate notes of pine and spice, and a very mild sweet malt backbone.

T- Lots of citrus and grapefruit upfront with a very faint sweet malty backbone. Finish adds a mild to moderate kick of pine. The bitterness takes over for the finish with a moderate citrus rind bitterness, a touch of pine bitterness a mild alcohol astringency, a mild alcohol heat, and a lot of spicy hops to help ride out the storm as this impression lingers on and on-with the spicy impression lasting the longest.

M- Medium to high tingly carbonation. Body is medium weight to slightly thick with a slighty prickly, astringent consistency initially- and a smooth oily consistency to finish (which doesnt add up given the flavor-but tis the way it works out).

D- This is an awesome beer overall. Its very strong and hoppy-but offers complexity with the hoppiness and a solid malt backbone. Its too bad this is one time only and draft only.

a: full duck-rabbit pint, medium amber in color with well-retained head

s: huge on the pine hops, fresh and resinous, with a healthy caramel malt backing, biscuity notes, balanced sweetness, great start

m: medium-full, malty body, carbonation light-moderate, carrying the weight well

t: a continuation of the aroma - huge green pine, sappy dense hops, some brighter citrus notes, big malt body - biscuity caramel, thoroughly bitter but in an appropriate context

d: drank extremely well for a 10 percent beer, purchase without hesitation

draft at Tyler's, Durham

on-tap at duckworths. ordered for my sister based on her style-paramaters and wound up getting my own

appearance: served in a strange little unbranded chalice - perhaps the lightest duck rabbit beer i have seen, light-amber bodied, no head

smell: christmas tree - loads of pine, citrus hops

taste: Nice beer and a little deviant from the duck rabbit self proclaimed stereotype - piney hops, blood orange, ruby red, caramel, booze, holiday spicing. Nice draft offering from duck rabbit - i'd love to see them shed the dark beer specialist label and continue over to the light side

mouthfeel: sticky malty body, moderate bitterness from the hops

drinkability: nice