Town Hall SpringFest

Brewed by Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Draft at brewpub. Somewhat subtle aroma with some roasted malt and a hint of hops. Dark, hazy red with creamy, good sized off-white head, with a hint of yellow. Excellent lace. Requires a palate adjustment if you’ve had other beers prior. Very unique. I love the description of this brew: color lightening to greet the warmer temps of Spring. I am having this brew on the warmest day so far of 2008 in Minneapolis, with a high of 50 degrees. Style is still a bit of an enigma. I don’t agree with the "Amber Ale" designation. Mike Hoops indicated that this would be an IPA if it weren’t for the more substantial malt bill. I think it’s definitely more of an IPA than an Amber Ale. There’s a little something in the finish I’m not 100% enamored with, the malt? A very nice beer and the best one of four I had at Town Hall this evening.

(on tap at Town Hall) Pours a dark reddish brown with an off-white head that left nice lacing on the pint glass. The most disappointing part of this beer was the aroma, it was very weak, but what was there were some scents of citrus hop and pepper. When I first drank this, the hops were completely dominant, and nothing else even appeared except citrus. What was surprising about this beer was the complexity it displayed as it warmed. Upon warming the flavors changed considerably, to more caramel and toffee. Another taste would yield some iced tea, and another would bring out an earthiness (which I thought tasted like pumpkin). I also tasted some chocolate towards the finish. The mouthfeel of this beer was superb, thick and full with perfect carbonation that really was easy to drink. This is a very unique and well made beer.

[On-tap] Pours dark amber with a decent beige head. I found the aroma to be quite subdued, even after letting it sit for quite some time. Mostly it was citrusy hops, but there was light caramel malt too. The taste was extremely bitter when first tried cold. As it warmed though, the bitterness decreased, leaving only a light remnant of that taste up front. Citrusy grapefruit followed by malt with milk chocolate and a hint of some type of grain--barley maybe? in the finish. Quite thick with a long finish. A very nice IPA that changed quite a bit over time and was very drinkable.

Pours hazed and red; a robust and pleasant appearance. Creamy aroma of toffee, soft caramel, and cotton candy, with hints of golden fruits and earthiness showing around the edges. Classic. Taste is firm and malty with lots of gingerbread dough and cushy vinous fruit character of raspberry and grape. Some cocoa. Floral and mineral bitterness dry out the mid palate, and last through to the finish. Medium palate is chewy and smooth, with a great quenching character. Altogther, this is a perfect beer for spring, not brisk enough to provide summer refreshment and not heavy enough to accompany winter depression, but exactly right to drink when stepping inside from the rain, giving all the subtle richness and soft bitter comfort the best english ESB could offer. Well done.

I tasted the cask version of this last week at the brew pub. It appeard amber brown with a cask off white head and descending bubbles - very attractive. The aroma and flavor both consisted of very nice and fresh flavored malt and hops - sort of spring like(?). This one was a joy to try and I could drink it all day. I’ll update after I have the non-cask version as I feel the need to have it a bit colder and carbonated.

I’m taking a wild guess at the style on this one, as it’s really an enigma of a beer. It appeared at the pub without any notice, and when I asked about it, a server could only say "it’s a maltier IPA." I think that’s not far off. The website says this: "All the ingredients of spring....Lighter in color than most winter beers, lighter in malt than most winter beers, but still very crisp noticable hops...much like that first spring breeze." More mysterious. Of course, we’re far from a spring breeze, but obviously not intended to any style, so my guess is as good as any. But, let’s have at it, any way... Hazy, light brown color, nice cocoa-tan head, slim, but steady... Hoppy aroma, mixed with caramel malt. Green and brown. Taste: here’s where it counts. Smooth, malty, hoppy, delicious. Easy-drinking, full flavored, long finish, full bodied, but never obtrusive, never too this or too that. Sweet, sweet, dark, tasty malt, with a brace of hop bitterness dancing a dervish on the tongue as well. Great mix of flavors. Dark, malty, hoppy, damned delicious. This is something else. I love that it fits no category I can think of, and I’m probably way off base in the designation, but if you can come up with a better one, go for it! I can’t stop drinking this beer, though, it’s light enough to keeping passing by the lips, and hoppy enough to keep my tongue happy, and malty enough to keep the other part of my tongue occupied .... Reminds me of an India Brown, but with a different malt profile. Plainly put, it’s like chocolate meets hops. Very drinkable, even sessionable, with so much flavor...not too light, not too light...love it!