Arbor Olde #22 German Alt

Dark brown with a colossal beige head that slowly fades away and requires multiple pours from the bottle to fit all of the beer into the glass. Aroma of caramel, cereal grains, roasted malt, mild smoke and earthy hops. Taste of dark malt, mild sourness, chocolate and mild caramel. Body is over carbonated but it ends up being smooth and finishes up with some moderate sourness.

12oz bottle 7/18/09 (Siciliano’s Market-Grand Rapids)-Pours a dark brown with a HUGE tan head that dissipates super quick. Not sure if infected or over carbonated. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, and slight sour or infected aroma. Taste of malt, slight sourness, dry, and slight coffee. This light bodied brew I would like to try fresh or uninfected.

On tap at a local restaurant. Pours very dark brown with a light tan head. Aroma is a mild roasty and fruity smell. Flavor is strong in roastiness with a lot of cream. Some slight dark fruit flavors are also present, as is a little chalkiness. This is better than I remember it being last time I had it on tap at the ABC brewpub.

Pours an almost black brown with almost no head. Aroma of roasted malt, slight hops, and coffee. Flavor is similar, with the addition of dried fruits and molasses. Very easy to drink, but nothing to hunt down.

Drinkable at best. Lovely dark brown color, nice head of mocha giving way to decent lacing. Aroma of socks. I exaggerate, but it’s not nice. Taste is about as bland as you’d expect a sock-smelling beer to be. Either my bottle was skunked or this is the stalest-tasting beer I’ve ever had. I lean towards the latter, because truly stale beer is undrinkable, and I was able to nurse this, albeit much effort was required. Smoke flavor dominates over all else. The palate on this just completely fails. Still debating whether or not to pour it down the drain.

Bottle from Sicilianos in Grand Rapids, MI. Dark brown with rocky beige head. Slightly sour oxidation or infection aroma, not really in style, mettalic, brown sugar. Sour, fruity, coffee, oxidized, dry, blueberry flavor. Medium body with light carb. Infected but where’s the alt?

12 ounce bottle courtesy of mibirder. Thanks! Pours an extremely dark brown color with a huge tan head. Good retention and fair lacing. Aroma of big roasted malts and slight tart fruits. Taste is roasted malts, chocolate, tart fruits, bandaid.. Something a bit off. Medium bodied,

12 oz bottle. Rather opaque black pour into the tulip. Huge off white head, had to pour and wait a couple times. Burnt malt and toast aromas, but rather light. Lively mouthfeel, light medium body. Burnt malt taste with hints of dark chocolate. Subdued hop presence. Very, very clean, but maybe just a bit overcarbonated. If not for the carbonation I would say this is extreamly drinkable, but as such is just good drinkability. A very interesting and unique alt.