Kuhnhenn A Few Shillings Too Many

pours dark brown with creamy beige head..aroma of caramel, molasses, bourbon, chocolate and light hops..a more hoppy flavor profile, with sweet bourbon, caramel, dark fruit and alcohol..another great beer by this brewery

12 oz. thanks, riverside! pours a crystal clear dark brown with very little head, lace, or legs. sweet caramel and graham cracker nose. a little musty to be sure. creamy medium body, mild carb. tangy cereal mid palate, rich sweet grain presence, tons of sweet caramel and graham crackers. mild sweet finish.

12oz bottle from riversideak. Dark brown with thin off white head. Leather, cherry, tobacco, and some peat...pretty tart. Cherry...tart...leather and tobacco in the flavor also. I would agree that the probably didn’t plan this, but this is infected. Not a drain pour IMHO, bit the medicinal band aid sour is too much.

Holy crap this is infected. Seems that happened to the entire last batch. Nose is sour cherries and caramel, some alcohol. Nice clear deep read with a tan head. Flavor is quite tart and more than a little sour up front with cherry and raspberry being the dominant. Recedes to a big hefty dose of caramel malt and chocolate. Finishes smooth with a bit of astringent sourness. Infected but it actually makes it more interesting than your run of the mill wee heavy. Not to bad... I wonder what the intended beer would have tasted like.

Big thanks to Derek for another Kuhnhenn brew, poured into a tulip. Pours very, very dark, almost black in the glass. It shows a deep, hazy copper when held up to the light. there is a small off-white head that quickly recedes to a solid ring and a soapy swirl on top. Not much lacing but some boozy legs on the sides. The aroma is very sweet with the requisite caramel malts and some vanilla, but there is also a healthy dose of dark fruits in the nose and some hints of smoked peat. The faintest tart cherry whiffs start to come out, but it’s very faint. There’s a little alcohol burn in the nose as it warms. The tart cherries show up early in the taste with an initial pop on the tongue that seems a little out of place. The sweet dark caramel malt base is definitely still in there as well as some dark fruits, especially raisins and figs. The finish has a slight smoked peat character but also some lingering sourness. The mouthfeel is slick and typical of the last couple Kuhnhenn bottles I’ve had. It’s not nearly as infected as the Rauch, but it’s definitely headed that direction. I’m glad I read some of the comments about these beers and caught this one before it really turned. As it is, it’s a decent scotch ale that was probably an excellent beer when it was released.

Bottle (Dec 2006 on the lable) at a tasting and so starts a week of palate punishment and "extreme fatigue" though little did I know it at the time. Dirty dark brown. Reddish highlights. No head. Aroma of alcohol and dark fruit; fig, date and raisin. Flavour is winey alcohol. Very sour, only the heavy malt saves it. Underneath the sour and soy is some nice scottish ale trying to come out. Overaged?

Dec 2006 bottle. Murky brown color. Caramel, milk chocolate, boozey sweet nose. More like an Old Ale. Only a touch of peat. Mouth really surprised me with its sourness. Milk chocolate and caramel followed, but the sourness is way too distracting to really like this beer. I am sure it was really good at one point, just not now.

12 oz. bottle from Winter Solstice Dec 2008. Pours a hay deep copper color with a small fine beige head. The aroma had a slight sour cherry note that hit just before the caramel malt, toffee, and slight tobacco. I didn’t get the sour cherry when I had this on tap prior to the Solstice party so I’m thinking it is slightly infected. The flavor does not show the sourness as much. Very slight sour cherry, but dominated by chewy caramel malts, other dark fruits, slight tobacco, and a touch of alcohol as it warms. Mouthfeel is smooth, but viscous. This is another beer from Kuhnhenn that has two identities: on tap it is first class and in the bottle you had to drink it early or risk getting something that is infected. My rating will reflect the combined score from both.