Bluegrass Altbier

Brewed by Bluegrass Brewing Company
Style: Altbier
Louisville, Kentucky USA

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

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Sampler at BBC downtown. Pours a clear amber with minima head. Aroma is up front with hints of malt and a little caramel. The taste carries this malt through, but with a hoppy bite at the end for a crisp finish. It is interesting.

Pour from a 12 oz bottle. Slightly cloudy light brown brew with virtually no head. My sample had almost no carbonation - not sure if it had gone flat or if that was intentional. Taste is very nice and complex malts, sweet at the start with a surprising chocolate element later in the swallow. Not much overt hops in the finish but a little bitter kicks in to counter the generally sweet flavor. Overall what is here is tasty and good. I wish it was a little better carbonated.

Draft to taster at BBC. Looks solid; a transparent amberish-copper with sticky off-white lacing. Smells and tastes malty with chocolate and hop notes. Average on the palate. Decent.

Bottle. Pours copper with a medium white head. Aroma of caramel, toasted malts, light nuttiness and light spicy/flowery hops. Taste is moderately sweet caramel, toasted malts, spicy/floral hops. Body is a little thin with a finish of more toasted malts and caramel with a hint of grassy hops.

Draught from the brewpub in Louisville. Darker amber pour with a wisp of head. Nose is sweet German malts with a light hop profile. Simple, light, and nicely low abv.

Tap at BBC. Sugary odd brewhouse aroma. Dulled orange-brown. Steady white head. A soapy odd brown ale, not so impressive. Lacks real depth, medium bodied tease. Unimpressive.

Bottled as Amber Ale. It poured an amber color with a thin white head. The aroma was of mild caramel and light hops. The taste was malty and somewhat bland with mild caramel and a little cardboard. There was some mild bitterness on the back end.

Bottle. Lighter in color then I would have thought. Light brown in color. Some head. Tastes more like a Dutch Brown Ale than an Altbier. Aroma the same.

Clear medium orange amber, quick-to-disappear head and lots of lace spots. I haven’t much faith in BBC brews, but this is at least one exception. Taste is sweet caramel malt that grows through the palate to a dry bitter finish. The balance is is a little toward sweet, but not objectionable, especially since the flavor dissipates nicely, leaving me wanting another swig. Recommended.

Bottle. Sweet brown sugar and apple aroma with a faint odd chemical smell. Hazy amber with a moderate fizzy head. Malty with an underlying petroleum flavor. Medium body and carbonation.