Bullfrog Susquehanna Stout (Kegs Gone Wild)

Brewed by Bullfrog Brewery
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Draft @ Bullfrog. Pours a dark, murky, chocolate-brown color; medium tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Very nice aroma, showing prominent brettiness (citrus, lime, toastiness) and bitter chocolate; tartness, tart lemons; nicely blended character, like a more approachable Madrugada Obscura. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: chewy bitter dark chocolate melded with a toasty, citrusy brett character; moderately tart citrus; dark chocolate; immensely drinkable soured chocolaty stout. They did an excellent job with this one. Lengthy finish: dark chocolate, citrus, and toasty malts.

On tap, at brewpub. Pours a slightly murky dark brown body, almost black, with a nice frothy chocolate brown head that had excellent retention. The nose is a mix of dark roasted malts and bretty funkiness with a slight lactic note. The flavor is quite sour and bretty up front with a rather intense dry roastiness coming on mid swallow that fades to a very bretty and citrusy finish. Mouthfeel is lighter bodied with lots of fizzy effervescent carbonation that was a bit of a deterrent for me. Overall this was pretty decent, but I don’t think that it works as well as some of the other KGW beers I’ve had. I guess I’m not as accustomed to Sour Stouts as I am other styles, which makes me have the initial reaction that it is infected in a bad way. I love Sours and Stouts, but I guess not in the same glass.

On tap at the brewpub. Aroma is a rather clean, dry Brett, citrus-like, but not funky or cobweb-like. It’s becoming a signature house funk and I like it very much. Pours more on the dark, thick, murky brown end of things. A mahogany-teak color. Creamy cocoa powder head. Flavor is rich. Immediately a strong tar or ash like charred character, then a swing of dark chocolate, a quick turn to snappy citrus Brett and acids, before a long alcohol glide. Very, very dry, almost to the point of thinness. One thing this beer made me notice about Kegs Gone Wild is that taking a standard brewed beer and subjecting it to funk means a beer with little residual body. And while I like dry beers, I sometimes feel like I want to sink my teeth into a little more body with these. That may be the only downfall of KGW.

Draft at Bullfrog (July 2008): Pours an opaque oily black with a wispy lacing beige head. Aroma of mild funky brett and roasted malts with some earthy grassy notes. Body starts with good fullness and carbonation revealing a mild dark caramel sweetness before submitting to a drier, earthy funkiness toward the finish. A pretty unique and well-balanced funky stout.