A buddy brought me this from CO when he couldn’t fulfill my request for Old Chub. Talk about asking for a fish and getting a snake!

12oz bottle-pours a tan head and dark red/brown color with effervescence. Aroma is malt-chocolate. Taste is medium malt-chocolate, nice secondary hops with some bite. OK/good effervescence.

Tap at the brewery. Small head, dark clear brown with worthy carbonation. Light malt aroma. Taste is bitter, metallic. Finish shows some more flavor, brown sugar and noticable hops. Light sweetness, but doesn’t overcome metallic thing.

reading the style guidelines on an american dark lager, it would seem that not a lot is expected from this style: it basically has to sit there, look brown, and try not to burst into flames. by the modest standards suggested, this one does okay. it’s a clear beef jerky brown buttressed with shadowy columns of plum red, and it does sit there nicely under a swab of wood putty colored foam. by way of aroma, it exudes the barest signals of dry wood and nut shells, and further olfactory scrutiny only leads to dead ends, mute witnesses and disappointment. brisk carbonation shills for approximately an acre foot of water, and modest flavoring consists of balanced dry dark malts and the metallic bitter hardware of slightly orange tasting hops.

Clear garnet body with mild carbonation and a filmy beige head. Aroma of dark toasted bread crusts, chocolate, toffee, and some dark malt syrup properties. Moderate malty sweetness but fairly light bodied. Little recognizable hop character. Still, easy drinking and not bad.