Friday, November 21, 2008

Grynch: First Impression: Rapscallion Beer Makers: Novemberfest

We were too late for Oktoberfest, so we made the best of it with a completely different beer. Spiced with cloves and flavored with one brutally chopped apple, we imagined that it would be a perfect addition to a Thanksgiving feast.

It's fairly dark and reddish, but surprisingly light bodied. Not very sweet, not very hoppy, with a perfect clove twang. The apple is present, but it's more of a subliminal suggestion. I credit the apple with the bright and dry fall crispness. I had misgivings about the pile of cloves we poured in, but adding them early kept them mellow and round.

For the first few sips I was a little surprised how light it seemed, but then I started eating pizza. This might be the greatest beer for food I've ever had. I've gone through a whole mess of food in my head, and I can't find anything with which it won't pair up well; hot dogs, steak, miso soup, cereal, potato chips, Indian, sushi... It might not be great with Mexican food, except maybe something with mole sauce, which I usually don't like, but I could make an exception for this beer. And of course, turkey. But especially cranberry sauce.

The others will probably post with completely different impressions, and maybe our ABV measurement. I have no idea.

2 comments:

gromasthomas said...

This brew hit the mark we set out to make, and has only one flaw: it's so tasty I find myself drinking it too fast. Grynch forgot to mention how nice the head on this beer turned out to be.

Grynch said...

I did notice the nice head, but the retention wasn't quite as strong as the India fAle Ale. On the other hand, I don't really care about the head as long as the beer is great, which this is.