You may be getting a serving of vegetables with this squash ale, but even if you don’t love vegetables, I still think you’re going to like it.
Made with organic roasted squash, roasted, chestnuts and roasted lentils, all of that rich roasted goodness comes through clearly in this dark ale. The well-balanced flavors aren’t more on the delicate side, which was unexpected for me. I guess the combination of dark-roasted ingredients and piles of pumpkins don’t translate into delicate in my mind. But they pulled it off.
On the negative side. I’m tasting a little more of a full sourgum flavor in this beer than I’ve noticed in some of Ground Breaker’s other offerings. Sorghum is that double edged sword that makes gluten-free beers both drinkable and utterly forgettable at the same time!
Because this brew is seasonal, and has limited distribution, it is likely hard to find. If you do happen to find it in the fall I recommend you pick up a bottle.
Look: dark chocolate brown with a thin lacy head, and a thick-looking body, pours almost like a stout
Smell: Cherries, roasted espresso beans, leather
Body: creamy and rich with a dry, fizzy finish
Taste: Full flavor of roasted squash at first, with sour notes in the middle and a dry slightly sweet finish.
Overall: Well-balanced, Deep and rich, this is a one-of-a kind, this seasonal ale that attempts to capture the fall season in a glass, and comes pretty damn close. Worth trying.
Certified Gluten Free
Brewed for Autumn 2016
5.8%alcohol by volume
Brewed and bottled by Ground Breaker, Portland Oregon, (formally Harvester Brewing)
This beer was “triple-squashed, with 300 pounds of roasted squash added in the mash, the kettle and the fermenter.
Ingredients: sorghum, chestnuts, Belgium style candi syrup, organic lentils, cane sugar, organic tapioca maltodextrin, pumpkin, squash and hops.
Disclosure: I received this beer free from Ground Breaker Brewing, but I did not let this fact influence my review.
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