30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale
Appearance-Pours a rich chocolate brown giving rise to a splendidly fluffy off white head leaving dabs of lacing along the sides and finally lowers to form a nice thin layer with a ring around the edges of the glass. Aroma-Burnt and darkly roasted malts mingling with a gentle hoppiness; I can detect smells of dark coffee, cocoa, very dark caramel as well as the pine and citrus of the hops. Taste-Darkly sweet caramel malts followed by a crisp burnt malt character lead off into a pleasant citric hop bite. As it warms I'm detecting more complexities to the dark malt character; I can appreciate brown sugar, blackstrap molasses, black coffee, dark sticky toffee and bitter burnt dark fruit. The malt profile really comprises the central flavor profile making this different than Bigfoot in that regard but the hops are by no means invisible. Mouthfeel-Medium carbonation, thick with a syrupy full body; a bitter and dry finish with some nice alcohol warmth. Drinkability-I could be drinking this one *ALOT* faster, believe you me, but it's just so damned tasty that I'm forcing myself to take sips. Even still; now that I'm done with this review the bottle is done and my glass is half empty. This beer impressed me the most out of the three I sampled tonight.