Scuttlebutt 10º Below Ale

Brewed by Scuttlebutt Brewing Co.
Style: Dunkelweizen
Everett, Washington USA

Serve in Stein, Weizen

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Tap at Popeye, Tokyo. Black colour with a small off-white head. Chocolate, caramel aroma. Bland chocolate flavour with some dried fruits.

Pours a dark, barely translucent sepia with a fairly thick light tan head. Robust aroma has a malty, slightly smoky core and firm notes of cloves and caramel. Malty flavor delights with caramel, cloves and subtle woody hop notes plus more than a hint of fruit - apple, plus a little cherry. Smooth texture has only a little fizz and is fair in firmness. Scuttlebutt has it that this will keep you warm - but seriously.

Draught at the brewpub
Hazy dark amber to brown color with small head. Mild aroma, sweetish, some caramel. Round mouthfeel; quite nice caramel flavor, the wheat is not evident, but a light roasted malt touch is very pleasant here; it has a dusty character typical of Danish beers; quite strong bitterness; fruity esters are almost absent; this is not your typical Dunkelweizen (Imperial), yet it’s a quite good beer.

Bottle - Pours dark amber with a thin foamy light tan head. Nose is pretty nutty, with some baking spice, dark rye bread, and hint of banana. Taste is mostly the same, with bit of heat on the finish and lots of nuttiness on the finish. Thin bodied and smooth, with ample carbonation. Baffled as to why this is a 91 for style.

Bomber. Nose has a little more chocolate/caramel than I was expecting, sweet with very mild phenols and minerals, pours a murky dark mahogany with a light tan head. Taste low-medium bitterness, medium sweet, good balance under mineral water and bubblegum/clove, with strong herbal presence on the back end. Medium body nicely textured, smooth and malty (reminds of Munich, at least). Some slight burned notes/smoke, but this falls more into a generic Brown Ale type for me (though it isn’t dull).

Draught at Kamikaze. Dark brown, almost black, thin lacy head. Nose of chocolate, coffee, tobacco, light phenols, a touch of cabbage. Flavor is chocolate fudge, earth, light coffee, some berries. Nice fine carbonation. Well balanced, not very German, but very chocolately and tasty and good bitterness.

12-ounce twit-off bottle in Seattle. Pours a dense and hazy dark brown with only a slight head. Medium body with chewy mouthfeel. Malty flavor with dry character. Complex malty finish. OK.

Bottle. Great tast. Pour brown, and full. Little head, but good. Aroma is nutty. Taste is solid with notes of brown sugar, nuts, and a little smoke. Good taste.

Bottle. Pours a very dark (almost black) with very little head. Nice little bit of roasting in the nose of this. Little bit of coffee and roasting in the taste. Easy beer to like.

12 ounce bottle
This is a decent seasonal beer that I finally drank while clearing out some space in the back of an "on tap" box. It is not the most complex dunkel on the planet. However, it is satisfying enough that I had no problems finishing it while watching some television. Scuttlebutt is one of those breweries that is worth checking out as a solid regional option with wider distribution.

Aroma / Appearance - The deep base borders on black while retaining some red in the fringes. Decent legs hang around for a while like a moth drawn to a screen door at night. Spiced cider, chocolate, coffee, and malt fit well together.

Flavor / Palate - Nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, and flat soda send mixed messages. Overall it is cohesive but I couldn’t pick up on if this was trying to be more wintery or late fall. Even so it warms the palate well. Without being too tiring it has a good value to flavor balance. Were I up in the area I’d certainly give them a second look.