Beer Camp Across America: Alt Route

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled on 6/3/2014. Pours crystal clear deep ruby red color with a 2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toast, toffee, brown bread, pear, apple, light roast, light herbal, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, yeast ester, and light hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light roast, light fruitiness, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness. Fair amount of earthy herbal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light roast, light fruitiness, herbal, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and balance of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and light yeast flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a smooth, fairly crisp, and lightly creamy/sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good altbier style. Good balance and robustness of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and light yeast flavors; and very smooth and crisp to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering.

12 oz bottle. Pours a deep orange amber with an off-white head. Sweet-scented pale malt aroma, fruity, hinting at candy grape or strawberry/cherry liquorice, with a hoppy tone. Flavors of toasted grains and biscuit and a bit of dark fruit mixed in, accentuated with citrusy hops and a nice bitterness. Great flavor combination. I really like this one.

12oz bottle pours out a amber topped with a small head. Nose is cereal malts spice and fruit. Taste is as the nose with lots of malts.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a nice, dark chestnut brown, with a medium, persistent, beige head. The aroma is pecans, herbs, caramelized sugar, burnt toast, and leather. Sweet and a little roasty, with a mellow bitterness. Medium body, syrupy, and sticky. This is a pretty aggressive altbier; very hoppy and roasted, at least for an altbier.

Nice copper color fruity nose with hints of bread. Smooth and somewhat sweet going down with some bitterness at the end.

A dark brown ale with a thin lacing mocha head. In aroma, sweet fruity malt with light oxidation, dark fruits, light molasses, still nice. In mouth, a nice sweet fruity caramel malt with light resinous hops, molasses, treacle, alcohol warmth, dark fruits, plums, surprisingly nice. Bottle is about 3.5 years old.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle. Aroma is malty with a lot of nuttiness and toasted bread with lighter notes of chocolate and roast. Medium light hop character with some grassy notes and fruit with pine resin. Pours a nice brown color with some ruby highlights and a fairly thin, slightly tan head that slowly recedes to the edges where it lingers. Medium lacing and medium small legs. Flavor is fairly sweet with quite a bit of dark toasted bread and light nutty notes. Light roast notes with medium caramel and faint chocolate. Medium bitterness with light hop notes of grass and pine resin with hints of citrus. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a nice alt with some good malt notes, but it seems to be lacking the aged character that decent alts have. Light hop character works well with the malt.

12oz bottle pours with a deep copper brown body that supports a full light mocha head of foam. The modest aroma offers up malts, a dash of caramel malts and then hints of spicy hoppiness and then a sliver of fruity lager yeastiness. The taste is similar with malts and some caramel malts with shards of spicy hops and bitter floral hops. To midway it picks up lagery yeasty notes and a biscuit like maltiness as well as some roasted malts. This is very hoppy and robust for an Alt and feels 100% Americanized.