Deep brown coloured body with a nice tan head, about a centimetre tall that has faded down from two at the first glance from the pour. Aroma of smoked meats, mushrooms, light malt, a touch of specialty grains and some caramelised sugars near the end. Medium-bodied; Strong smoked malt flavours with a touch of peat, but this really is about the smoked meat and mushroom, earthy notes with a light sweetness near the end and a big hit from the yeast and alcohol towards the finish. Aftertaste shows more of the grain and more pungent malt flavours, but some light sweetness and a dash of complexity from the yeast strain and some dryness from the malts with a good funky mushroom earthy flavour at the tail end. Overall, a good and smokey beer that is full of character and balances quite well with my meal over the course of an hour or so. I sampled this twelve ounce pour on draught at Momofuku Ko in New York, New York on 30-March-2012 celebrating my wife's birthday, before we had any kids at all, for US$8,00 while the meal was considerably more expensive.

Associated Supermarket, Bushwick growler ($9): Pours is light amber with a white head. Aroma is caramel malt with smoky meat. Taste is pretty smoky with a nice sugary, almost candy-like undertone. The smokiness is pretty light. Not too complex, but pretty drinkable. Not bad for Kelso.