Location: Draft at Black Forest Brew Haus, 7/28/14

Aroma: The aroma has some wheat and spice, floral notes, cracker, and grains
Appearance: This beer pours a cloudy yellow color, with a small white head and medium lace
Flavor: Taste is spice and wheat, crackery malts, and a more bitter than expected finish
Palate: This one is easy drinking, clean and lively on the tongue, with a fairly dry finish
Overall Impression: This one surprised me actually, I wasn't expecting such a nice beer. It has a really nice hop profile for the style. Good beer.

Location: Draft at Black Forest, 7/28/14, as just Amber (5.0%), same description

Aroma: It has a nose of caramel and bready malts, with a light earthy bitterness
Appearance: Pours a clear amber-orange color, with a small off-white head and drippy lace
Flavor: It is lightly sweet, with a malt forward flavor, and a light-medium bitter finish
Palate: It is lighter bodied, with a fizzy carbonation, and a somewhat dry finish
Overall Impression: Solid Amber. Good, not great flavor. This one is certainly drinkable, but it is just not all that exciting. Looks like this got me up to 83 different NY breweries, so that’s kind of cool.

Hand bottle from jtclockwork for krampus. Thanks! Pours a cloudy dark orange with minimal head. Aroma of corn, grains and green apple. Taste is light sweet, light bitter and follows aroma. Medium bodied with a slightly slick texture. Soft carbonation and a long finish. This is really darn good. Pretty sure I could drink this everyday.

Growler shared by Tom at Clocking New Year. Pours amber brown with off white head. Nose and taste of malt, toasted bread, light caramel, flaked corn and touch of pine. Medium body. One of the better malt liquors I’ve had.

From the bottle. Better than expected. Pours gold with white head. Nose of corn and hops. Tastes of corn, floral, cardboard, hops, and some sour malt. I’ll take it.

.5l hefe glass, drafted at the brewpub in Farmingdale, New York. Served with a lemon. Pour is a cloudy yellow orange golden with a loose white head. Aroma is fruit stripe gum, clove, along with a bit of straw. Taste is sweet with the gum, turning quick to wheat and clove. The clove lingers a bit in the aftertaste. This became a bit unclean as it warmed, showing some off flavors. Palate is un filtered, medium bodied, decent gypsum mineral dry in the finish. Pretty standard hefe.

.5l mug draft at the brewpub in Farmingdale, New York. Pour is a lightly hazed yellow golden, with a pure white one inch head. Pretty carbonation bubbles rise to the top of the glass throughout. Aroma is a faint, cracker toasted malt along with some light citrus. Taste is the clean cracker malt, along with a bright citrus that leads to a mild clove and grassiness. Classic german pils flavors, clean, nice integration. Palate is light bodied, un filtered mouth feel, with a dry mineral finish. Nice one.

12 ounce (I think) pour at the brewpub - well, this one sure doesn’t produce much of a head - points off for that - however, this is a very well-balanced version of an imperialized hefe - clove is the dominant phenol, both in the aroma, and through most of the flavor - aside from a heavier sweetness at the front, and a slightly heavier body, you’d think this was a regular hefe - fairly dry, semi-tart, and quite refreshing - a little bit tangy through the middle - the finish gets sweet again, with some banana flavors, and some alcohol spiciness gives away its strength - I’m not a big fan of the imperial weizens, but this one is pretty good.

Large weizen glass pour at the brewpub. Comes to the table with a large frothy head and a dark brown color, too dark to see through. The head eventually fades to a surface covering lacing. Aroma is strong with dark ripe banana esters, lots of strong earthy bark, and lots of thick dark malt flavors including light chocolate, raisins, etc. The mouthfeel is a bit spiky and mineral. The taste is a nutty, leafy, forest with esters around it. Easy drinking as usual for Black Forest. Another very nice brew.