York Steam Ale
On tap @ the Mudhook Brewing Company (York, PA) on 10/14/11. Served in a pint glass. Pours a clear gold, with a thin bright-white head. This retains with some mostly foamy bunching around the edges, leaving back a fizzy cascade of lace that settles into a light smattering of spotty froth. Sweet malt and fruit jumps out in the aroma, with an earthy ripeness here that is surrounded on the edges by some leafy accents. Malts add a stickiness to this that mostly adheres to the fruit and there is maybe just a bit of toast that hangs around in the back of the nose. The taste is fairly hoppy, with a raw bitterness here that spread a deep earthy pithiness out into the mouth. Sweet grains and some more citrusy fruit character do their best to balance this but the finish is bit abrasive, with a dry and raw feel that hangs in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and initially crisp on the tongue, before getting more creamy feeling on the edges. This was pretty smooth overall, especially for 6%. Once this warmed up a good bit and the profiles started to come together, this wasnt so bad, but the hop profile here still needs some refinement to it. Just too much of a rawness here to the bitterness at times. Hopefully this one will continue to be worked.