Nebraska Brewing Co.
Pappilion, NE
Available: NE, IA, OR, PA, NY, MA
Aged six months in fresh oak Stranahan Whiskey barrels, and bottle-conditioned for an additional month before release.
ABV: 9
ABW: 7
Color: 47
Bitterness: 83
Original gravity: 1085
I can imagine that this is what beer tasted like a hundred years ago. Deepest black color, nearly opaque. The tasty tan head leaves lace as it slowly dissipates. The nose is a bouquet of roasted malt, spices, leather and wood. On the palate, it is creamy and round, with a lovely seasoning of vanilla and tropical fruit, and bittersweet chocolate. Serve with fruitcake—soaked in Black Betty!
Deliriously black: this brew assassinates any light that touches it. Pours a profound creamy head that’s worth listening to. Poetic cocoa and wood aroma with potent malt foundation. Expecting a deranged punch to the palate, I was pleasantly undone by a silky smooth and tempered wave of flavor and sensation. An extraordinary equilibrating balance of hops, roast and caramel malts bound by an erudite woodiness. The roast and hop bite as an aftertaste transfixes. Stupendously brewed and unforgivingly enjoyed.
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com, Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.
