Kuhnhenn A Few Shillings Too Many

Brewed by Kuhnhenn Brewing
Style: Scotch Ale
Warren, Michigan USA

On draught at Kuhnhenn, so definitely not retired. Pours a dark red/brown, with small head. Mild aroma of malt, sugar, and alcohol. Strong, sweet, malty taste, very nice. Rich mouthfeel, nice carbonation. Very good beer!

OK, this is on tap right now, I don’t think it’s retired, or it’s the 2008 version. I’ve had a few there, brought a growler home to rate. The smell is current/cassis, sweet. The color is dark brown, virtually no head. the flavor is sweet, current/cassis a little honey brown sugar, finishes with a little bitter on the back of the tongue, the body is light and the texture a little syrupy.

Draft sample at MBGF Summer08. Poured a dark brown color with a moderate frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Heavy roasted malt and caremel aroma. Medium to full body with a sticky texture. Medium to heavy sweet woody flavor with a medium sweet alcohol finish of moderate duration. Solid drinkable brew.

2008 MiBGF: Mahogany hue with a soft beige head and some lace. The aroma has notes of toffee, smoke, prune and dried dates, some heather, and an earthy yeast vapour. The taste is sweet malts and vinous ripened fruits with a noticeable papery oxidized undertone. The finish was moderately spicy and even a tad woody. I am not getting much bourbon however. The mouth feel is very sticky and oily, warming. Seems a tad past it’s prime now, I which I would have had this a year ago.

On tap at HopCat, Grand Rapids. One of the featured brews during Kuhnhenn Week at the bar. Clearish orange-brown body, buff head. Nose of toffee, caramel, and especially candy corn or caramel corn, sweet and sugary. Candy-like body with toffee and hints of banana, vinous notes, and alcohol heat. Well-done, but I wouldn’t want to tackle more than a few ounces.

Best Before 2009 (coming in right below the wire) A- Pours a murky brownish hue with a very small, tan head. S- Smells deeply sweet, brown sugar, vinous notes, dark fruit, dates, raisin. T- Taste is much lighter and sweeter than the nose. Lots of vinous, red wine notes come out, plum, quite a bit of unfermented sugary sweetness towards the end. M- Has the mouthfeel of a Cabernet at this point. Fairly thick, almost no carbonation. Seems to work well with the flavor. D- From the nose I was expecting an entirely different beast altogether but this one really suprised me. It has definitely aged well. I would have been interested to see what it tasted like a year and a half ago with more carbonation but the creamy mouthfeel seems to work for this one.

Rerate, draft @ Kuhnhenns. Pours a dark, clear, slightly viscous cherry-brown color; light tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Loads of dried dark fruits (raisins, dates), caramel, and sweet viscous maltiness in the aroma without being cloying. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: loads of sweet caramel, soft brown sugar, and honeyed, dried dark fruits; incredibly dense, generous, and satisfying; nicely earthy hoppiness at the perimeter; very well-composed beer; glad I got to rerate this! Lengthy finish: toasty malts, dried fruits; lots of toastiness emerging to efface the sweet core. 8.4.8.4.16=4.0

355mL bottle, December 2006, courtesy of ryan. Thanks! Pours a dark, murky reddish-brown color; mostly headless; viscous. A vinegary note upfront that’s definitely out of place; inside, however: viscous raisins and dates; currants, raspberries, chewy maple syrup; like a funkified fruit rollup. Full mouthfeel: intense, chewy dried red fruits (cherries, raspberries), viscous candy; again, fruit rollups and fruit leather; even with the initial tartness, this is still reasonably pleasant; wish I tried it a year ago. Long finish: raspberries, dried cherries, and plenty of mildly tart candies and dough. 7.3.7.4.13=3.4

Bottle from crosling. Fairly clear dark amber with no head. The nose is sugary sweet with lots of dark fruit, toffee, cherries and some oxidation. The flavor is very sweet and lightly tart with cherry, tons of toffee, some oxidation, raisins and prunes. Full body is sticky with moderate carbonation 7/4/6/3/12 = 3.2.........Fresh bottle rerate. Same as previous bottle, minus a bit of the cherry and the tartness. More sweetness in the flavor and nose and a lot more bitterness. A bit better and closer to what I remember having on tap a few years back.