Arbor Dark Corner Ale (2011+)

Brewed by Arbor Brewing Company Pub & Eatery
Style: American Strong Ale
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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On tap at Crunchy’s, East Lansing. Murky medium brown to brown-orange body, thin discontinuous cream head. Toasty nose with nuts and leafy hops. Sweet, toasty, nutty, rough body, finishing with an acidic bite and rough, bitter, leafy hops. Fruity esters add an interesting component.

Pours a cloudy, muddy brown with a very thin, brief tan head. Aroma is sweet and earthy, with some bitter coffee and an odd astringent quality (turpentine comes to mind). Not entirely sure how to score the aroma: an unpleasant but intriguing curiosity. Flavor is mellower: malty sweetness, a bit of chocolate, toffee, and a nutty finish. The aroma really threw me off, it’s actually an enjoyable beer, although a bit flat and sweet for my taste.

12oz bottle. Pours hazy brown with light tan head. Aromas of brown sugar, toffee, dark malts, and a bit of a citrus hop note. Flavors of dark Carmelo malts and some citrus hop notes. Really lacking in flavor for a bigger beer.

Murky chestnut with a thin tan head. Aroma of dark malt, prunes, coffee, dark roasted malt and faint brown sugar. Taste is acidic for sure with dark malts, coffee, caramel, darker fruits and some nuttiness.

Muddy deep dark brown coloured body with a ruby glow and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of metal, malt, earth, cherries, grapes and a touch of oak. Medium-bodied; Pungent earthy, caramel and nutty flavours at first with a little sour touch a middle of the way through with some faint pit fruit and prune sweetness on the end with a little maple sugar as well. Aftertaste is a bit complex, but a lot of the flavours are muddied and showing either malt, nuts or earth. Overall, an interesting beer, but not amazing and not too great for the style - a bit off the pace, still nice to try, since it appears to have only a few ratings. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan for US$2.69 on 28-April-2011 sampled at home in Washington on the fourth of July, 2011 just after watching the fireworks.

bottle...reddish prune body with minimal white head. aroma of coffee beans, brown sugar, grassy hops, toasted grain, and dark fruit. flavor of roasted malt, toast, spice, and baked goods..subtle, yet dense..the better of the two

aroma is much sweeter that the DH version, heavy mollases and closer to the brown ale it is disguised as. appearance is much murkier than the DH, zero head/legs, tiny carb. muddy river water. flavor is spiciness amongst big brown sugar/caramel. excellent milk chocolate comes in time. mouthfeel is dead as low carb predicts. falls flat across palate, unpleasant.

Bottle: The aroma is a strange combination of grapes, caramel, toffee, nuts, spice, and a touch of alcohol. It pours a cloudy reddish-brown with a small khaki head that quickly fades to a thin film. The flavor starts with caramel and chocolate. The finish consists of light grape bubblegum, citrus, roasted nuts, spice, and a touch of espresso. Light-medium bodied with mild carbonation. Overall, kind of strange and little all over the place. I’d love to see what this would be classified as if not for the "catch all" that is American Strong Ale.

12 oz bottle, tasted side-by-side with the Dark Horse version. Somewhat hazy pour, brown amber, a little more brown than the other version. Aroma is fairly alcohol-influenced, with caramel, toffee, toastiness, and a little roastiness. Flavor leans toward roasted malts, touches of cocoa, coffee, and cream, and a little toffee. This one has hints of stout with the strong brown ale.

Red cap version from the Dark Horse/Arbor collab. Sweeter nose and taste than Dark Horse version. Hard cider acidity. Surprisingly different and slightly more enjoyable than the DH black cappers.