Thunder Hole Ale

Thanks to Adam Slaker and Jeremy Hoffman for bringing me back an assorted six pack from Maine! Tasted Sunday afternoon while harvesting some produce and monitoring the chickens in the garden.

Appearance: Mahogany brown with a poor head, yet what is there forms a ring around the center of the glass and leaving behind a wet lacing. Clarity is not the best either with a color inhibitory haze throughout. Quite still looking.
Aroma: Under malted toasted barley with a nutty undertone. Some chocolate and earthiness are present as well, but overall it lacks a healthy scent.
Taste: The flavor is sweet and tannic, especially at the end. First impression gave me honey and notes of nuts, but as the palate has adjusted, this has transferred into a woodiness with a finishing spice to it, reminiscent of light cloves. The finish is dry and of wood lignan, similarly representing and tasting of the ever so mouth drying tannins. As the beer warms, more of the toasted barley malt comes through at the front.
Mouthfeel: Heavier body, bordering somewhere around medium. Carbonation plays neutrally here, neither taking away from the flavor or adding a big crisp fizz, it's simply there to make a beer feel like a beer. Finish is dry and even a bit resiny
Overall Impression: Not something very spectacular, but I can certainly see it as a gateway beer into the mis-conceived darker "heavier" beers. It doesn't have really too much to offer, but the toasted malt and woodiness.


75/100