Rich dubbel ‘brewed with plums’ really hits the mark. Candi-sugared Italian plum influence weighs heavy on peppery Belgian yeast strain. Musty muscat grape-juiced stewed prune musk and cinnamon raisin breading pick up sharp hop spicing. Tertiary green grape, blackberry, raspberry and boysenberry tartness stays beneath surface. Fizzy grape soda sweetness contrasts vinous oaken grape tannins at ripe plum finish.
Profoundly embittered dry Irish stout loads hop-charred roasted coffee and sappy Blackstrap molasses atop smoked barley malts. Black rye-breaded spine picks up Baker’s chocolate bittering, acrid charcoal tarring and creamy vanilla bean affectations. Dark nuttiness abounds beneath heavy mocha concentration.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, enjoyable soft-watered nitro version of classic stout loads sugary brown chocolate sweetness atop molasses-dipped toffee, anise and cocoa illusions. Light gingerbread spicing contrasts ashen hop-charred charcoal bittering. A fine mocha-enriched dessert treat.
Indeterminate pumpkin-roasted fall harvest seasonal brings vegetal gourd-yam rusticity to understated brown-sugared spicing. Salty pumpkin-seeded oiling and brisk hop rasp overtake depleted cinnamon-nutmeg-clove conflux, undermining any true pumpkin pie proclivity.
Long-time Virginia brewery specializes in midrange medium-bodied ales like this golden-cleared German-styled pale lager. Reedy earthen hops and caramel-roasted barleymalts pick up vegetal astringency by honeyed rye finish. Diacetyl buttering is a drawback. Nevertheless, one of the better Dortmunder knockoffs.
Stylistically aggressive dry-bodied Czech pils brings raw-honeyed fruiting to delicate grassy hop spicing. Light lemon-seeded bittering recedes at doughy baguette bottom. Easygoing summer lager for indiscriminate tastes.
On tap at Julian’s Restaurant, fabulous milk stout, aged to perfection in muscatel barrels, seamlessly blends chocolate with red wine. Creamy molasses-sapped black chocolate overture enriches sweet dessert-wined muscat grape segue. Plum-sugared black grape, green raisin, blueberry and sherry undertones reinforced by soy-milked hop char. Subtle mocha illusions of chocolate cake, cocoa and vanilla waver beneath.
Subtle rust-hued English-styled barleywine brewed with chestnut honey and orange zest (and packaged in fancy carafe glassware) will please fans of Innis & Gunn’s mellow Scotch-barreled eccentricities. Delicate rauchbier-like kiln-smoked peat malts serenade cedar-chipped pecan, almond and rum raisin illusions. Dry tobacco-leafed crisping affects ancillary almondine, armagnac, almond biscotti and marzipan pleasantries. Advertised orange zest adjunct seems nominal. Soft-toned whiskeyed caramel finish melts on tongue.
Highly expressive peach-juiced Belgian ale (a.k.a. Bush Peche Mel) mixes Bush Amber Ale with brewers’ peach lambic. Enthralling candied peach tartness lingers above sugary malted wheat sweetness. Ancillary tangerine, necatarine, apricot, sugarplum and yellow grape illusions invigorate peachy overtones alongside less pronounced papaya-mango-pineapple tropicalia. Syrupy peach schnapps boozing and peppery peach lambic souring regale the fruitful finish.
Caustic hybridized black lager (a.k.a. schwarzbier) liberally douses hop-charred black chocolate malts atop rauchbier-like kiln-smoked beechwood sear. Hickory-singed molasses sinew, stove-burnt coffee acridity and tertiary vanilla bean bittering deepen pungent mocha prominence to contrast sullen dried fruiting.
