Gnarly Oak Hazelnut Dark

Brewed By: Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin  

Purchased: 22oz bomber from an $8 dollar gift set bought at Walgreens in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Amber Ale, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 24

Hazelnuts? Yarrr. After last night's mediocre Minhas offering, I'm happy to crack open tonight's beer and put this one to bed. About Minhas: 

Minhas is the oldest continually operating brewery in the Midwest, and the second oldest brewery in the United States. As you can see from the brewery's history page, the brewery has been owned by many different people, and rebranded numerous times. The brewery began in 1845 as the Monroe Brewery when it was opened by Mr. Bissinger. In 1906, the brewery changed its name to the Blumer Brewing Company. And in 1947, the brewery was purchased by Joseph Huber and the brewery became known as the Joseph Huber Brewing Company. In 2005, the Minhas Family purchased the brewery, and in 2006 the brewery changed its name to the Minhas Craft Brewery. For more info, check out the brewery's website. 

The Hazelnut Dark is billed as an "Ale brewed with natural hazelnut flavor." The bottle says: "Hazelnut Dark is a reddish amber ale that has an impeccable balance between its carapils and caramel roasted malts and centennial hops. We add just a touch of hazelnut to give a rich nutty flavor and aroma." I can only hope the hazelnut flavoring added to this beer isn't artificial and crappy.

Gnarly Oak Hazelnut Dark

The Hazelnut Dark pours into an orange/amber body. The body seems mostly transparent, and some streams of small to mid-sized carbonation are visible. The beer kicked up three fingers of amber-tinted head, and that has dropped into a consistent pinky of head. There is lacing if you swirl the beer, and the beer is bright orange when held to a bright light.

The aroma here is actually a bit of a departure from the Winter Bock and Chocolate Stout. I'm getting big Carapils malts and cereal grains on the nose, malt sweetness and fruity molasses, coffee, and hazelnut. There's a slightly buttery quality to the hazelnut aroma...and I'm getting some Cream Ale vibes from this.

This tastes a lot like a moderately hoppy Brown/Amber Ale spiked with hazelnut. The hazelnut doesn't taste too artificial...but there's a slight burnt and butter thing going on in here. Otherwise, I'm getting lots of toast, bread, unprocessed Carapils (which are fucking delicious so whatever), pretty clean hop notes that are floral and spicy, and lots of hazelnut. The hazelnut has some nutty and coffee character. This is actually okay.

As is the trend...this one is medium-bodied and probably a bit too heavy for 5.5%. BUT, you can forgive it because of the bitterness and carbonation that balances things out. This isn't even that hoppy, but the toasted character and Carapils provide additional bitterness. It's drinkable. The palate depth is good, and the complexity is aight. Up front: sweet molasses, hazelnut, and then some toast; the mids hit floral/spicy hops, toast, Carapils, and the beer cleans up; the back features lingering hops, and this one finishes dry and clean. It's almost like they used analytics and shit to brew a beer that has some thought and balance. They probably used BeerSmith for this. 

Rating: Strong Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. I like this...I would buy this again if it came in a 6-pack or if I could find single bombers for three dollars. I can't overlook the slightly burnt/buttery aroma, but in terms of the taste, this is definitely the most balanced of the Gnarly Oak beers. This beer has some nuance and progression. There are things like sugars, malts, and then hops. And when you combine them the right way, you get things like a nice palate progression and balance. I dunno. Whatever. Don't care. Food pairings: American bar food, chicken satay, ribs, pulled pork, pork, anything with pine nuts, YARRR

Random Thought: And that concludes my little $8 Walgreens adventure. All-in-all, not a bad deal....I've spent more than $8 on a single 12oz bottle of beer.