Despite mediocre rating, probably one of the better altbiers (a nebulous German style difficult to fully appreciate). Easygoing pilsner malting and soft Noble hop astringency create delicate bed for wispy dried fig, brown apple and apricot nuances. Serve as ‘lite’ beer alternative.

Bland German-styled altbier with diacetyl ESB-like toasted graining obstructing indifferent fig-soured herbal spicing. Raw molasses acridity picks up nasty metallic sheen.

Traditional all-grain brewing technique used to create uncertain amber-toned German altbier. Dewy English Bitter-styled earthen mustiness and mild tea-like acridity override vinous Kolsch-like grape souring to frail caramel-toasted rye malt spine. Spicy citric sweetness barely registers.

Deliriously indistinct, yet strangely approachable, copper-hazed strong ale (with 6.8% alcohol volume) brings creamy caramelized brown chocolate entry to metallic Scotch Ale-like whiskeyed orange midst, oaken cherry pucker and mild dark-fruited spicing. Brown-sugared butterscotch, toffee and vanilla undertones coerce tertiary baked apple, brown pear, sugared fig, white peach, green grape and rhubarb pie illusions as well as pithy cola-hazelnut-chestnut niche to its hard-candied center.

On tap at NJ Beer Expo ’13, plain amber-hazed Kolsch-styled altbier lacks firm character. Musty grain malts speckle pungent hop-spiced slither to evaporative bread-crusted bottom. A modestly indistinct waverer.

Coming on like a lighter-tongued German schwarzbier with its lactic sour-milked black chocolate creaming and cocoa-dried caramel nuttiness, this so-called ‘top-fermented old beer’ or ‘dopplesticke lager’ follows up Mad Scientist’s initial ‘09 barleywine and ‘10s coffee bock. Ancillary stone-fruited spicing overlays tobacco-roasted French bread crusting, enhancing the resinous mocha motif.

Well-balanced mocha-nutty German alt, positioned as traditional brown ale circa 2011, celebrates third anniversary of New England brewery. Perfectly rounded mouthfeel collates dry hop-charred walnut with wood-singed vanilla bean bittering and syrupy maple molasses. Hazelnut and pecan spotted in penetrative dark chocolate backdrop.

Thin for its Dusseldorf-originated German styling, losing luster at nebulous rye-breaded finish. Musty citric waft proves to be natural lead-in for distant orange-dried bittering. Pungent earthen grained musk and mossy peat fungi subsume tertiary fig-date-walnut illusions. Biscuit-y gingerbread nuance hidden deep inside.

Up-front sweet ‘n sour bitterness formed by chocolate malts, roasted barley, and tart lemony clove snip for ruddy-hued Bavarian dunkel. Caramelized malt tuft and vanilla wafer illusion soften earthen grain presence by dry powdered mocha finish.

Busy limited edition single batch reddish copper altbier juxtaposes toasted caramel sweetness and candied sugar coquetry against tamped down earthy hops and fresh hay serendipity. Cola nut and herbal tea illusions back fruited midst as wheat cracker serenade infiltrates oncoming copper ale-like tinniness.

Sporty bottom-fermented medium-bodied alt (old beer) intensifies hop-charred barley toasting and fruited malt insistence with eloquent wood burnt warmth. Citrus tones overlay chocolate bean bitterness and escalating grain alcohol potency by off-dry fruit-spiced finish.