Kuhnhenn Fourth Dementia Old Ale

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

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of moejuck/Thomas_E. Pours a very unclear orangey brown with a tiny, off-white head. Fat aroma of overripe fruit. Very full-bodied, roasted malts, overripe fruits and a rather alcoholic finish. Low in carbonation - high in complexity. Very delicious indeed. 150807

Red mahogany color. Strong sweet caramel aroma, oxidized, and some hidden hop. Viscous malt flavor, a lot of sweet caramel, candi sugar, vin cuit, with a sticky sweet liquorice aftertaste; the hop is not enough aromatic, and the alcohol perception is maybe too much. Big but not complex and unbalanced.

Batch 3 bottle, dated 2-16-05, with a big thanks to boboski! Pours a clear but very dark brown with ruby amber highlights and a minimal late forming head that dissipates to a thin ring, slight lacing. Full aroma packed with brown sugar, toffee, dark fruits, caramel, molasses, and on and on. Flavor is sweet on the front, with some warming alcohol and a mild hops influence on the finish. A very nice beer, and my first from Kuhnhenn.

On tap. Dark murky to hazy brown with a thin light tan head. Leathery to fruity deep malt. Perhaps something slightly vegetal, but in a good way, not DMS. A little earthy, with just a peak of alcohol sticking out (which I’d be shocked if there wasn’t at 13.5% ABV!). Creamy full rich mouth. Really quite ideal for any heavy hitting style. A good bit of alcohol warming too. Big creamy sweet round fat malt! Big fruity taste balanced by alcohol. Diacetyl fills in with malt, making a very rich beer indeed. A bit of chocolate. Diacetyl/alcohol are loom in the finish, but not in a bad way. Really interesting big ass beer.

Nothing subtle about this beer. Deep brown color with sweet taste. The hops do take over in the end to make very enjoyable. THe complexity that you look for in an old ale. excellent.

Growler from the brewery. Color is a deep brown-orange. Upon first drinking it, its warm, the alcohol is not covered up, but it seems to work well. There is a taste of some hops, caramel, and vanilla. Mouthfeel is fermented and carbonated, a little bitey. A very, very good old ale. 13.6% is a plus. Very rich.

2005 Batch 3 bottling sampled July ’07.

This is an extraordinary beer, pouring a dark murky reddish brown without much of a head. I really haven’t had anything very much like it. The aroma is huge brown sugar and dried fruit, some chocolate malt, agar or some other aspect of Luria broth (in a good way), very sweet.

The flavor is even more so. Extremely sweet, caramels intersecting with hints of lemon and candied orange that yield to a pleasing arugula-bitter hop close. The mouthfeel is thick but soft, showing only about 9% instead of its full 11% abv. There’s some wood in there, some Christmas spices, peppery on the finish. The flavors have melded beautifully with age, though the beer, and each sip takes you through a whole suite of taste and textural sensations, all of which are carried through at 110% -- this beer shows that complexity need not require subtlety.

This is stunning nightcap beer, and I’d be lining the shelves of my cellar with it were it available on this coast. I’ve finished it, and I’m sitting here sucking on the inside my of my cheeks (I know, too much information!) to savor the lingering aftertastes of this wonderful beer.

2007 bottling sampled May ’08. Thanks to tetrik I now have a few more bottles of this gem. I didn’t over-rate this one before; it’s simply that good. Slightly fresher the alcohol is more forward (easily 11%, nd fruit is more forward and I don’t get as much of the luria broth. This is absolutely splendid now and is very liklely to smooth out even more with age. 2007 bottling sampled Oct ’08 Still darn good. Starting to smooth out a little, lots of roasted nuts this go around. 2007 bottling sampled May ’09. Tons of fruity goodness (rich, baked apples with raisins inside) this time, glorious close that still brings a bit of heat, the beer must be peaking and seems to be pushing 4.5. Spendid!

Batch 3. Pours a translucent ruby red amber with a small beige head. Dark fruity aroma consisting of dates, prunes, plums, figs,molasses and pancake syrup. Taste is dark fruity as well with figs, prunes, plums and dates abound and hints of sugary caramel, pancake syrup and a bit of molasses. Pleasantly sweet. Superb !!!