Black Oak Wasabi Brown Ale

[1750-20081003] Cask. Pulled pork and sloppy joes buns aroma with a mild wasabi background. Hazy, dark brown body with quick white bubbles. Nut brown base flavour with a hint of wasabi paste. Medium body. Undercarbonated and subtle; I kind of liked it, though people around seemed less enthused.
<i>(FOSB 2008 @ C’est What; Toronto, ON)</i>

Cask sample at C’est What Fall Festival of Small Breweries. Dark brown with no head and a very still body. Aroma is very subdued at first, but a swirl or two reveals an odd combo of nutty malt and wasabi. The flavour is similarly subdued off the top, but the wasabi starts to build in the finish. Interesting experiment, and it’s not awful, but I don’t think the Nut Brown was the right choice as the base beer - maybe the Pale Ale would’ve been more pleasing?

On tap at Cest What? , Toronto
Appearance: Murky brown ale with little to non head noted 2-.
Nose: Mid brown malts, hint of brown chocolate, slightly spiced sharpness.
Flavor/Palate : Upper palate dominate by wasabi spice, sweets, brown full bodied malts below. Drinkable ale with oriental twist.

Cask at C’est What. Pours a clear deep brown with no head. Very mild aroma, it’s hard to detect anything -- there’s some Brown Ale in there if you sniff really hard, some malt and nuts, but wasabi? Not really. Flavour: Uh, I don’t know what to think about this: Watery, slightly unpleasant taste -- wasabi mixed with a Nut brown, it’s juts not working for me. Light bitter finish. Average bodied. It’s interesting, I’ll give it that, but it’s just not for me. Kudos to Black Oak for continuously trying new things though.

2008-10-03. Hazy headless dark brown body. Mild aroma is not helped much by the glass its served it, but eventually reveals a nutty malt of the base beer. Ephemeral over layer defies elaboration, but I assume it to be wasabi influenced. (6+) Flavour of the nut brown up front, nutty bitter sweet malt, wasabi is slow to rise in the finish, but grows in proportion to the frequency of your sips. Average palate. Better than expected actually, but tough to drink much of it in quantity. Cask at C’est What

Cask sample at C’est What - poured a flat, flat brown - not only smelled, but looked like, soya sauce. There was more more to the aroma, though - some caramelly malts, nuttiness, the tiniest hint of some wasabi, but really not much at all. Flavour a bit more rounded, but still not much wasabi. I, like Doug, was expecting (and hoping for) a bigger blast. Slightly oily on the palate. Laudable effort, but the weakest thing I’ve had from Black Oak so far.

On tap @ C´est What? Fall Fest. Strong aroma of soy, dark brown, zero head. Taste is a very slight wasabi, which I suppose most people would want, I´d have liked a jolt of wasabi. Light bodied, a small burn at the back of the throat, bitter, dry and woody.I appreciate the novel effort. This may be the first wasabi beer in Ontario.