Kuhnhenn A Few Shillings Too Many

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

On draft at brewery. Pours dark and roasty in color with thin off white head. Sitting there still and un-assuming in front of me it looks like a black cup of coffee in a clear glass. The aroma is simply HUGE with sweet rich caramel yummy-ness and hints of coffee. The taste. Wow, this is good. Rich deep caramel syrup. Lots of caramel. There are also undertones of dark fruit dates and cherries soaking in a caramel bath. Nice! Some chocolate also bleeds through the vail of caramel-ness from time to time. I love this beer. No sense of ABV.

On tap @ HDG. Dark brown with a trace of tan head. The aroma was full of malty sweetness, caramel, bourbon, and cherries...very inviting. The taste was lovely; huge malt flavor, toffee, caramel, and cherries. The texture was silky and thick...it clung to roof of my mouth. Definitely some alcohol presence in there, but you’d never believe 12.5%. There must have been a lot of effort put into this one...what a wonderful treat.

On tap at the Barleywine fest at Coles. This was far and away my favorite of the day, darker than any of the other offerings, almost a porter feel. Dark head that stayed with the beer the whole time, dark, robust. I’m taking my growler down for a fillup of this while it’s still available. Great, great flavor and worth the entire day. You won’t find this many places, and for that I feel especially fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Superb. My best beer of the year.

On tap at Kuhnhenn. Pours beautiful mohagany with beige head. Aroma is great with sweet malt, dark fruits, brown sugar, toffee, chocolate and a little booze. Flavor is thick and complex with sweet malt, dark fruits, brown sugar, toffee, and alcohol warmth comes through in finish. A hell of a scotch ale. Thought is was much more complex than Alesmith’s Wee Heavy. I am glad I had the oppertunity to try this brew.

Beautiful reddish mahogany, cloudy topped by a large beige head, uniform and lasting (this is 12.5% mind you!). Upon smelling, you immediately enter the major leagues, there is not so much competition in the scotch ales department, even in a world-wide sense, but this one is an easy chart topper. It may actually be my favourite out of the dozens I’ve tried. Its strong cerealic nose immediately unveils layers upon layers of decadent maltiness. Every whiff opens a new domain of blossoming fruit, while a strong vanilla, peaty, earthy component actually has a real scotch feeling to it. Alcohol warmth is obvious, but you would not advance such a monstrosity as 12+%. The round and fruity body is thick, chewy (not syrupy), rich and an immediate charmer thanks to its cleansing, effective carbonation that leaves you reaching for another sip within an absolutely unreasonable delay. An example with everything, vinous, peaty, fruity, strong and one that keeps you addicted. Just writing the review makes me wish I had one in my hands. Superior scotch ale.

Hooo boy. I tried this one on my first visit to Kuhnhenn’s, during an extended lunch break from work. It looks beautiful: A deep, dark red-black color with a small head. That head was probably being chased away by the rich caramel and scotch aromas that were coming up from below. It’s sweet and hot, the scotch taking command of the affair. You don’t drink this beer, it drinks you. I could never drink more than one of these per visit to Kuhnhenn’s but I will be sure to get one every time.

12’er. Extremely dark brown. Sweet dark fruits, caramel and chocolate are present in the awesome nose. Amazing, multi-dimensional flavor, which is wonderfully fruity, a bit smoky, awfully caramelly and extremely complex. I don’t taste any wood, in fact, I wonder if this bottling was even aged in wood, but I don’t care. It’s fantastic.

2004 draft. Oh boy. Starts out with a deep blackish-brown color, almost purplish. Small off white head. Aroma is sweet, brown sugar, rich caramel malt, light hints of bourbon, a bit of alcohol detectable and plenty of raisins and dark chocolate. Flavor begins with a huge powerful body that sticks to the palate and is quite creamy. The bourbon barrel aging adds a bittersweet element in the background that is subtle yet detectable enough to taste quite pleasant. Lots of vanilla flavors, caramel and what hit me as a coconut flavor, weird but that’s what I thought I tasted. Warming on the finish, but never would I think this is 12.5. Smooth and creamy, but perhaps a bit of a soy sauce (acidity from the barrel, combined with huge caramel malt dominance). The mouthfeel, as far as its velvety, rich texture is concerned, deserves a 5, but the balance is way off. It’s sour, then sweet, then alcoholic. It’s not terribly cohesive. A bit fatiguing at the end of the glass.