Evolution Craft Brewing Secret Spot Winter Ale

Brewed by Evolution Craft Brewery
Style: Altbier
Salisbury, Maryland USA

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

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Bottle. Dark amber color, medium white head. Aroma of slightly toasted nutty caramel. Taste is earthy caramel.

Tap. Pours clear amber with a medium, fizzy white head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is caramel, toast, and nutty malt, light Noble hops and a clean lager nose. Flavor is spicy hops, light bitterness, moderate malt, clean lager character and a dry finish. Medium body, warmth, and carbonation.

On tap at the brewery: Pours a clear deep copper amber with a creamy froth of off-white head. Has a lightly sweet toasty caramel nose with a touch of piny hops. Starts with decent fullness and slightly chewy light caramel malt with a smooth lightly bitter balance toward the finish. Sort of a slightly stronger version of the Exile ESB. Pretty drinkable, but nothing too exciting.

Draft at Craft Ale House. Pours caramel colored with off-white head that doesn’t lace well. Nose is toffee, caramel malt, piney hops. Tastes crisp, with a solid caramel malt bill and some spicy notes up front, giving way to a big hop blast at mid-palate. I give credit to Evolution for realizing that hops have a place in winter seasonals, too.

Served on draft at Timberwood Grill in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a hazy copper color with a medium frothy tan head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of toffee, caramel and a faint earthy smokiness. The taste is toasted malts, toffee, caramel and a bitter hop finish. Medium bodied.

Slightly hazy amber coloured body with a bright ruby tint and a nice, two centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of pale malt, alcohol, nuts, earth, very light spices and a hint of english or german hops. Light-bodied; Sharp metallic note along with some nuttiness, a hint of the hops, a little alcohol sharpness and a definite bitter earth flavour. Aftertaste shows the slow alcohol burn and a larger metallic and pungent finish, with a hint of sugars and a little spice kick. Overall, a pretty pungent beer for the style with the alcohol showing through and a bit too much bitterness for me. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Grateful Red in Arlington (Clarendon), Virginia on 02-February-2013 for US$2.47 sampled at home in Washington on 05-February-2013.

12oz bottle split with Anndiesel. Hazy unfiltered orange-tan body. Thin, oily non head. Toasty malt with some balancing orange hop aroma. Captures the style rather respectfully. Medium bodied, very easy drinking for the ABV. True to style, enjoyable.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Total Wine-McLean, 2/13/13

Aroma: The nose is clean and malty, some nutty notes, a bit of fruit, toasted malts, and caramel
Appearance: It pours a reddish color with a small beige head and some medium lacework
Flavor: The flavor is mid-sweet, pretty much all malts with just a tiny hint of hop bitterness to it
Palate: The body is medium, it drinks cleanly enough, with average carbonation, and a sticky finish
Overall Impression: Rater #22! This is a solid beer, but not a standout for me. It is malty, drinkable, and fine, but it just doesn’t have anything that would make you really rush out and try one.

Big Hunt, DC pint ($6): Pours a brownish color with a nice head. Aroma is a nice blend of maltiness and hops. This is in a sense a perfect altbier. It is very well-balanced and it maintains the German character, but adds an American element. In honesty, I had about 4 of these in a row, and there is seldom a time at a bar when I order this many of one beer. So far, this has been my favourite offering from Evolution.

Pours a hazy, slightly ruddy brown with a decent, off white head of foam. The nose has a bit of plastic, floral hops, and slight malt notes. The flavor starts off floral but then transitions to the malt with the notes of bread, slight nuttiness, and a touch of caramel. There is a lingering bitterness in the back. Medium to full body with prickly carbonation and a slightly oily mouthfeel. A little unusual but not bad.