On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, smoothly sweet wee heavy brings subtle heather tips florality to soothing Scotch serenity, caramelized brown chocolate malting and dried fruited pleasantries. Soured prune, sugared fig and mild burgundy illusions softly subsidize mild mocha finish. Wispy almond, creme brulee, maple molasses and toffee illusions shuffle across dewy peat bottom.
Elaborate barleywine carefully blends gooey cookie dough yeast with toasted caramel malts, dry Citra hops and brown chocolate spicing, leaving orange-bruised floral fruiting in its lightly pungent alcohol wake. Chewy brown chocolate sugaring sweetens honey-glazed walnut, pecan, and almond nuttiness as well as vintage Chardonnay, Bordeaux and sherry wining. Floral-bound orange zest, grapefruit, brown pear, red cherry, nectarine, raspberry and peach tang brightens the busy mix.
Intensely rich dark ale (with well-disguised 11.2% ABV) brings aromatic anise sweetness to chewy dark-roasted chocolate malt smokiness and tarry coffee bittering. Creamy chocolate-caked sugaring allows vanilla, espresso, black cherry and marshmallow illusions to gather steam above light bourbon-burgundy wining. A fascinating Icelandic elixir!
Less challenging than most ‘Brewhouse Rarities,’ yet still quite engaging. Advertised jalapeno peppering and dark cocoa-powdered chocolate creaminess seem undone by carbolic aridity. Wispy cinnamon-toasted vanilla sweetness gets lost in the shuffle as well, leaving raw molasses astringency to saddle its anise-nipped mocha finish.
Sweet-toothed 106th anniversary dessert treat begins fabulously, overloading black chocolate and dark cocoa upon oily hop-charred resin. But as the dark-roasted mocha malt frontage declines, its richness and body fades. So instead of tasting like candy-sugared M & M’s or a Milky Way, the chocolate-caked cocoa bean, chocolate mint, milked coffee; Kahlua and syrupy molasses illusions lose luster, leaving some phenolic astringency in its wake.
Ill-defined dunkel bock tastes like cheap sharp cider. Tart green apple, sour lemon and oaken cherry provide mouth pucker as stylish fig-date conflux takes a backseat to oncoming green grape esters. Murky toasted nut influence and unwanted veggie snip further confound things.
Thin ‘traditional brown porter’ with nut brown leanings affixes roasted nuttiness to musty mocha malting. Dry peanut-shelled cola and walnut resonance goes astray as murky black chocolate, dark cocoa and light-roast coffee illusions fail to ignite. Tertiary soy sauce, burnt toast and black tea nuances are spotty.
Enjoyable 2013 pilsner-styled pale lager (a.k.a. Champagne Velvet) celebrates Upland’s 15th anniversary with homage to Indiana’s ‘most beloved beer’ from defunct Terre Haute Brewery. Clear-yellowed German pils brings corn-sugared cereal graining to crisp lemon-soured spritz, mild grassy hop bittering and buttery pale malt toastiness. Musky yeast pungency reminiscent of Heineken.
Perfectly balanced nickel-hued IPA brings bright yellow and orange fruiting to creamy cookie dough malts. Sunny yellow grapefruit bittering takes the lead as orange-bruised tangerine, peach, pineapple, cantaloupe, nectarine, red apple, brown pear, mango, papaya and melon tang prospers. Furthermore, resinous piney hop freshness contrasts honeyed spruce juicing and chewy caramel sugaring in fine fashion. An underrated fave!
Underwhelming cherrywood-smoked amber-hued moderation lacks body, depth and underlying sweet malt contrast of similarly styled German rauchbiers. Initial peat-seared cherrywood smokiness dries up quickly, leaving only mild campfire singe, distant barbecued meat char and evaporative cedar burn to complement delicate pilsner-Vienna malting.
Sensationally sessionable sunny-yellowed German-styled pils plies mellow floral-spiced IPA fruiting to mineral-grained biscuit malt base and grassy dry hop resin. Lemony orange tartness and piney grapefruit bitterness blend well with honeyed herbal nuances. Minor alcohol astringency at finish provides sharp bite.
Washed-out strawberry puree tartness turns sour contrasting light biscotti-like Graham Cracker sugaring. Delicate dry-hopped bittering and polite pilsner malting provide frail backdrop for distant lemon-limed strawberry, watermelon, cranberry and gooseberry illusions.