Maple Ate Alf
Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.12
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I would have to say after all the years of making this beer, that this is the best 4 Elf we have produced. It is a great beer and the maple syrup helps bring it all together while not making it too sweet so it is cloying on the tongue. Well that is regular 4 Elf I have been telling you about…….this is Double Maple ATE ALF Winter Warmer. We did everything we did when making regular 4 Elf but this time we doubled everything except the water to produce a huge, super complex, High ABV Winter Warmer and a true double at that. This is not an Imperial. This is a true double where we actually doubled every ingredient except the water. We hope you enjoy and obviously you can also enjoy this beer at next Christmas time as well because it will cellar wonderfully.
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superspak (10160) reviewed Maple Ate Alf from Dark Horse Brewing Co. 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 12/7/2018. Pours nearly opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of huge caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cardamom, ginger, peppercorn, citrus peel/zest, and toasted dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cardamom, ginger, peppercorn, citrus peel/zest, and toasted dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, roast/char bitterness; and peppery cardamom/cinnamon/clove spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cardamom, ginger, peppercorn, citrus peel/zest, toasted dark/brown bread, licorice, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, dark fruit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, fairly sticky, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 11%. Overall this is an awesome imperial winter warmer. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Not overwhelming on any aspect. Perfect balance of rich malts, maple syrup, and spice flavors; with balancing earthy hops against sweetness, and restrained fruity yeast complexity. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected. Definitely an improvement over the base beer. Richer on malts/maple complexity, but still has the same balance against sweetness with the hops/spices.