French Broad Altbier

Brewed by French Broad Brewing Co.
Style: Altbier
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Date: 01/18/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Barley’s, NC

clear copper, fine dirty white head, thick lace, big sweet bready malt aroma with caramel sweetness and floral hops, big creamy body, sweet caramel malt flavor, lots of fresh sourdough character like a big bite into a warm loaf fresh from the oven, light earthy bitterness for balance, best bread character ever

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 10/10
Score: **4

(Brewgrass08) Beige head atop clear amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, light peach. Taste is medium sweet, caramel, some toffee, peach. Light-medium body, low carbonation.

Bottle… Pours clear and orange with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. Smells a bit lactic and woodsy… very pleasant, but I wonder if there’s an infection going on here. Medium-bodied with lively carbonation. I’m not a big Altbier fan, but this bottle is either infected or simply not brewed-to-style. I don’t care which… I like sour beers and this is a best-of-show site so I’m gonna go ahead and say that I think this particular bottle of FB Altbier is probably much better than most. It’s not crazy sour, but it is refreshingly and interestingly tart and has a crisp, lightly acidic, dry finish. Much better than a run-of-the-mill, boring-as-hell Altbier. Not all infections are bad. Lambic = Win!. 2008 Alesmith Decadence = Fail!. This beer = Win! (for an Altbier). Thanks to craftbeerdesign for the bottle!

(22oz. bottle) Pours a clear amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of toasted rye bread, nuts, and toffee. Flavor of toasted grain, caramel malt, and nuts.

on tap @Barleys Taproom-pours a light tan head and gold color. Aroma is easy citrus-orange, light malt. Taste is light malt/honey, citrus-orange, light caramel.

Bottle courtesy of durhambeer. Pours deep red with a white head. Smells rosey with some sweet malty hints. Tastes of brown sugar with some dark fruit, spicy and earthy.

Draft sample at KBJ08. Poured clear copper color with an average fizzy off-white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate toasted malt and earthy aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Moderate bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. A good drinkable beer.

Bottle 650 ml
Appearance: Clear ale with good depth of amber. Large white snowy, creamy top. Fine lacing.4-
Nose: Soft hop feel , meadow with Saaz character , slight Saison slight funk. 7-
Flavor/Palate : Nutty front , soft mid oil body with softer amber malts. Straight , simplistic and decent. Introductory ALT rendering, something was missing in formula. Aroma was bit strange for Alt as well.