Metropolitan Ironworks Alt

Brewed by Metropolitan Brewing
Style: Altbier
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

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Deep copper with a small off white head. Nice lacing. Aroma of caramel, dark fruit, slight floral hops. Flavor is similar and very strong. Caramel and dark fruit mostly with a late touch of hops. Finishes clean and refreshing. Full boded with light but prickly carbonation.

12oz pour @ Fountainheads. It poured a dark brown color with very little head. The aroma was very strong of malts, alcohol, hops and caramel. The flavor was about the same. Just o.k.

Bottle. Pours copper with an off white head. Aroma and flavor of light caramel. Touch of bitterness.

Draft. Hazy amber color, thin off white head, solid lacing. Aroma of lightly spiced caramel. Tast is bitter spiced caramel. Not bad.

Bottled. Red-orange with a small, off-white head. Sweet peach candy and nectarine aroma is very floral and fruity. Mildly sweet flavor at first, but the flavor profile quickly changes and provides a lot of rye, wet grains and yeasty toast notes. Finish is clean, lightly bitter, bready with light apricot preserves underneath. A very solid, quaffable session beer that doesn’t skimp on flavor.

Bottle pours copper with fast fading head and a lace of ring. Aroma is biscuit, clean barley, some earthy hops, mildly fruity fermentation profile. Taste is same as the smell, very bready with hints of fruit and roast/coffee on the finish. Body is medium/full, average carbonation, dry clean finish. Overall, really tasty and drinkable, my favorite from Metro so far.

Interesting naming for this entry, since there is no pre-2011 Ironworks. The description does clarify things, however, by calling it both Iron Works and Ironworks. Anywho - Poured from the bottle, this has a clear pale copper body with a modest but sustained creamy ecru head. Just a bit of spotty lacing shows up. The aroma is light, some caramel sweetness. The flavor’s the same, starting with the too-sweet caramel and finishing on an earthy bitter note. Interesting interpretation of an Altbier.

12oz bottle. Pours a cloudy, copper colored body with a finger-width, dense, foamy and rocky, dirty white head that collapses slowly and leaves a nice, creamy lacing throughout. Aromas is crisp, lightly sweetened, grainy, floral, and slightly grassy. Flavor is better. Stays very crisp with a nice grainy, toasty, bready malt sweetness up front as well as a grassy and floral hopping. A touch of honey sweetness in the middle before this finishes dry, crisp, balanced, slightly sweet, and lightly bitter before leaving a lengthy aftertaste following a medium body and crisp, moderate carbonation. Overall, a really nice altbier. Crisp, balanced, and easy drinking with a pleasant sweetness and solid floral/grassy hopping. A solid local lager.

12oz bottle from Binny’s in Naperville. Clear amber, moderate white head, sweet caramel apple aroma. Malty, but not nearly as rich as some in the style. A bit over-the-top with the sweetness and a little out of balance, just can’t put my finger on it.

Bottle courtesy of motortoddhead! Deep rust. Caramel covered fruits and a mild hop presence in the nose. Round, clean bitterness that hides a soft toasted malt backbone with a hint of sweetness. Slight grainy quality, non-detracting. Lingering light bitterness.