I've been to Karl Strauss a couple times now, and the beer had always been a decent experience. Most brews are not bad but nothing spectacular. I usually pass over the Karl Strauss options because I was never really wooed, but I saw this one at the store, I had to give it a try. I have a penchant for rye; whiskey, beer, bread, it's all good.
A nice black pour, with about a centimeter of dirty head, I got a nice whiff of spice. There's a bit of chocolate right on the tip of the tongue. There's no strongly dominant flavor but it starts toasty, progresses to roasty, and finishes fairly burnt, like burnt toast. There's hints of spiciness throughout, but unfortunately not as potent as I'd like. I think it gets a bit overwhelmed by the strong roasted malts. It's a bit sticky on the finish but is otherwise clean on the palate.
So I'm going to guess that this is supposed to be a Cascadian Dark with rye. I'm not feeling it. Yet again, the label indicates their strong hop character ("of a Double IPA", ha!) but fails to follow through. This is supposedly rated at 80IBU and has garnered some decent ratings on BA, but I just don't get that strong of a hop impression with this, nor many other Cascadians. I don't get it. Maybe I should try a blind tasting sometime and see if the visual cue is what's screwing with my palate. Or maybe there's just not that much hop to taste.
- Appearance: Opaque black with a centimeter of light brown head. Fades pretty quickly though.
- Smell: A spicy, cereal aroma.
- Taste: Predominantly dark malt impressions of varying toast. The hop character is just not there for me. There's a bit of chocolate on the tip at the beginning.
- Mouthfeel: Clean, round, and smooth. Finishes a bit sticky.
- Drinkability and Overall: As with Karl Strauss's other beers, it's not bad, but it's not knock-your-socks-off. At 8%ABV, maybe a way to start of a meal at one of their brewpubs.
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