Old Thumper

Tasted Wednesday afternoon after going back to my old house to finish cleaning up everything in time for the check-put. Unfortunately the rest of my roommates neglected to finish in time and we pissed off the landlady. Thanks to Rob Liva for donating this beer to the blog!

Appearance: Upon pour, the beer exhibits a high carbonation and an enormous cream colored head. Once the bubbles settle the beer is very clear with a rapidly rising carbonation from the base of the glass. Color is a simple amber. Lacing is wet, but densely foamed.

Aroma: Extremely bready with a yeasty pungency to it. Smell reminds me of half baked dough. Some spicing and herbal hops follow up the sweetness with an earthy character.
Taste: Initially the beer is relatively grapy and vinous. Some tart fruit character emerge along with a bittering leafy element which is near puckering. A subtle graininess thrusts the malt flavor into a slightly astringent profile. The hops do little to help, only making more of a floral and grassy bitterensss. I'm guessing there was some strange candied sugar added to this one, along with a dash of spices. Oranges come through along with apricots and unripened pears. As the beer warms, more of a toasted, biscuity malt base emerges from under the strange flavors the predominate the beer. A dry leafy/rind aftertastes remains.
Mouthfeel: Rather light in body with a watery front and a medium fizzed carbonation. Somewhat smooth but leaves a cloying after texture along with a dryness at the front of the mouth
Overall Impression: Interesting beer, it definitely captured some strange elements within it that could easily be narrowed down into a few words. I found its bready sweetness to meld well with a toasted undertone. Though I wasn't very sure about the hops and the after malt flavor.


80/100