Elk Creek Olde Millheim Strong Ale

Formerly brewed at Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks
Style: American Strong Ale
Millheim, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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UPDATED: FEB 8, 2008 Dark ruby/purple brown in color, with a well-formed, firm tan nitro head (see pic). Faint nose overall, but with some nice maraschino cherry and cedar malt notes, some sweet woody and fruity hops, finishing semi-sweet, smooth, and chewy. Some black cherry skins and light roast round out this well-made, quiet, smooth, flavorful beer.

Draught at the brewpub. Pours hazy maple color with beige head. The aroma is woody hops, caramel, slight roast, and cinnamon. The flavor is ash and wood, a bit of sweet caramel and prune, some fruity hops. The finish is cherry, oak, pear, and a light bitterness. Some toffee qualities linger into the aftertaste. Pretty good, I thought.

On tap at the brewpub. Nose runs in a blush of pale fruits and light caramel. Fairly generic. Pours in a deep red mahogany, with a rising creamy swath of tan above. Flavor is a rather calm gentle sweetness, with noticeably warming alcohols, light perfume quality and some subtle tannic feeling. There’s a lot of purple fruit; pluot and grape running through this, but overall the malt character isn’t that deep, just a touch generic. There’s a surprising amount of roast and mostly caramelization. Finishes on par for the style, not too sweet, not too dry. Fresh, clean and lively.

On tap, at brewpub. Pours a very dark brown body with a minimal creamy nitro head on the sampler size, but I must admit, it looked quite a bit more enticing when I saw the full pour that mj got. The nose is slightly fruity with some toffee maltiness and no noticable alcohol fumes. The flavor is a little sweet for me with some grape soda notes and dark fruits. No alcohol noted on the flavor as well. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a fairly viscous texture. Minimal soft carbonation. Overall, pretty decent, but it didn’t strike me as something special.