Nimbus Alt

Brewed by Nimbus Brewing Company
Style: Altbier
Tucson, Arizona USA

hand bottle from bockyhorsey shared at the phx tasting... pours an orange/red shade of brown. otherwise a rich amber with no head or lace. the aroma is lightly sweet and slightly spicy with notes of toffee, wood and toasted nuts. the flavor is the same... malty, caramel and fruitiness. medium body with a pretty dead mouth feel from the six month old bottle. (i can’t imagine this being better with more bubbles anyway)

Hand bottle shared by bockyhorsey. Full amber colored pour, though the head was a bit weak (a little flat, Bill said it was a tad flat the first time he had it too, so probably not strictly a feature of the hand bottle). The aroma was caramel, faint chocolate, some nuts. Flavor was caramel malts, some roasty choco faint notes, nuts too, followed by a bitter mildly hopped finished. A little on the sticky side, flavors didn’t do wonders for me, mouthfeel being on the flat side of things didn’t help either. However, as w/ all altbiers, I always have a good time trying a new one out. Thanks, Bill!

Tap @ Brewery. A fruity aroma on the nose. Darker amber body with off white head. Beside the fruit flavors a licorice flavor was present as well. Some mild bitterness and the fruity flavor lingered on the palate.

On tap @ Nimbus - Pours a clear deep amber color with a small off white head. Left some nice lacing behind as I drank the beer. Aroma is a toasty caramel malt and very light esters. The flavor is much of the same. Has a slightly bitter astringent aftertaste. A good beer.

Sampled July 2007 at Nimbus
Sits in my pint glass with a clear, amber-red color. It is topped by a light tan colored layer of thin froth. The aroma is made up of fruit (with berry being most noticeable, toasty malt notes, biscuit aromatics and some light caramel. The berry aromatics seem to be a mix of hop, yeast and malt contributions.

The beer feels creamy up front, but then a light carbonations adds some texture towards the middle. This tastes of herbal hops, fruit (again berry notes, but also some melon flavors), and some substantial malt notes are here as well; notes of light caramel, biscuit, and perhaps some toffee flavors are all noticeable. This finishes with a nice bitterness that provides an astringent bite that makes one want to take another sip of this brew.

This is a nice mix berry, herbal and malt flavors. This is actually quite a decent, even actually good, example of an Alt. It does not have that hoppy vibrant character of my favorite versions, but I really like the chewy, creamy mouthfeel; the beer just slides down my throat with a smooth, interesting texture.