Draught pint at Redbones on 11/30/06
Drab, olive-brown with dark, stained oak and beige tones throughout. Off-white/beige head is small but fairly stable, providing light lacing. Medium to medium-low clarity.
Not much aroma, very dull and slightly metallic maybe? Sourish coffee with some light cocoa notes and bits of brown bread. Nuttiness trails off and all is soon overtaken by a leafy, green hoppiness. Lightly floral and spicy, not very bitter or strong. Nothing very distinctive here and in fact it smells rather damp and musty.
The flavor seems to hint more at the problem. Either this is just a very poorly made beer (doubtful) or there is something wrong with the batch. Peanuts, coffee grinds and a tannic malt quality are stretched way too lean across a lightly watery body. No malt sweetness or suppleness, with rather bitter/bland hops as an afterthought. Vegetal qualities emerge quickly, on the finish, pointing at DMS or some other culprit. It never regains any real good qualities. Mossy/moldy, musty, vegetal, thin and lightly bready. Carbonation is moderate, wet, washed out texture.