Flat Earth Element 115

dark golden color, medium head, medium amount of lacing. medium-lite carbonation, not much aroma however you can pick up some malt. flavors are mostly of malty biscuit, corn and light roastyness. light hops that hang on in the finish. Mouthfeel is also moderate to full. Overall I like this beer quite well, and would gladly enjoy one again sometime.

Dark golden color, slightly malty aroma. Thick malty mouthfeel and a sweet finish.

Sampled March 2009
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three finger thick head that is a pale tan color and just crests the top of my glass. The head subsides somewhat quickly and completely disappears after a bit. The beer is a brilliantly clear, light ruby color that shows a deeply red stained, bright copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of toasty malt and berry-like hops. There is a slight lemon like note to the nose that comes off as being a little washed out. Sweet malt aromatics form a backdrop to the up front toasty malt notes that remind me of whole grain crackers.

Up front the beer tastes lightly bitter and it picks up a malty sweetness through the middle, but then dries out in the finish where there is a strong bitter finish that also has a bit of menthol to it. The bitter hop notes in the finish can get quite sharp and almost astringent at times; it really lingers on the palate with a spicy, almost peppery bite. This has a medium fullness to it that helps to stave off the biting hop finish when the beer is actually in the mouth. Malt flavors of toasted whole grain crackers, a touch of caramelized malt sweetness and just a solid malt character really help this to balance out much of the hop notes. This definitely has that signature mint-like / menthol note that is characteristic of Northern Brewer hops.

This is actually pretty nice; at first I didn’t like how jarring the transition between the smooth, chewy malt notes in the middle and the harsher hop notes in the finish, but after a few sips it begins to get a bit more integrated and balanced (though the hop character is a bit more harsh than I might prefer). This definitely seems to be an under-appreciated beer though, but I suspect that the breweries consistency issues have to do with much of the problem; I am just glad that I got a stable / fresh bottle.

Bottle. Nice amber pour, plenty of carbonation and a rich buttery caramel aroma. Flavor was heavy on the malt, followed by some pepper on the aftertaste. Not my favorite style of beer, but very good nonetheless.

Bottle. Pours a slighlty hazy amber color with a longlasting off-white head. Has a malty hoppy spicy aroma. Dry malty hoppy spicy flavor with some yeasty hints. Has a dry malty bitter finish with some spicy hints in the aftertaste.

Bottle from Jungle Jim’s. Poured clear copper color with an average white frothy head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate citrus hoppy and light malty aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium balanced flavor with a medium bitter finish of moderate duration. Good drinkable brew.

Nice golden/copper color. No real aroma. Flavors of wheat, banana and some hop bite in the finish. Very Saison like. Pretty good.

22oz bottle. Pours a deep copper with barely a head. Nice hop aroma with some malt. Crisp flavor with mostly hop, but not so much that it does not fit the style. Pretty good, and waaaaay better than I was expecting.