Local Option Mourning Wood

Brewed By: Local Option Bierwerker in Chicago, Illinois  

Purchased: bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2015 

Style/ABV: Amber Ale/Hybrid Ale/Barrel-Aged Ale/Coffee Beer, 7.3%

Reported IBUs: ?

Local Option Mourning Wood

You can't stop the Chicago beer train. It's coming at you 100mph like Amtrak. About Local Option:

Local Option is a restaurant/bar (known for their intense Creole food) that happens to also brew their own beer.

The Mourning Wood is an oak-aged coffee amber ale. This beer sits in fresh American oak, and Dark Matter's El Salvador San Jose pulp-natural coffee adds some coffee kick. This one looks like it has been through barrel-aged hell. The beer is a murky, orange color, with tight lacing and surprisingly good head retention despite the barrel/coffee treatment.

The aroma here is dark grains, sweet hazelnut, nutty coffee, toast, oak, and some nice dark fruits. I'm getting some dried berries and figs on the aroma, and I'm reminded of Autumn-style beers (namely the Two Brothers Atom Smasher). As this warms up, the coffee on the aroma starts to pop.

This beer gets appreciably better as it warms, so keep that in mind when you crack this. As I sip on this, I am getting lots of dried berries, serious kicks of Dark Matter coffee ala hazelnut and light roast, toast, and light grassy hops. The oak comes through as a mild character that plays with the Amber Ale base. Caramel, light brown sugar, tapioca, iced coffee, wood, coffee creamer...pretty complex.

This hides the 7.3% with ease, and drops appropriate carb levels. Palate depth is good with nice duration, and this has a fairly complex layering of flavors for an Amber Ale. The oak addition is a subtle touch, and the coffee comes through as a light roast or Java flavor. I find this to be an intriguing Amber Ale, and you can't beat the price. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This is not revolutionary or mind-blowing by any means, but it is a solid Amber Ale. Also, the Dark Matter coffee comes through strong, as advertised.  

Random Thought: Awww yeah beer. 

4 Hands Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown

Brewed By: 4 Hands Brewing Co. in Saint Louis, Missouri

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Brown Ale, 5.5% 

Reported IBUs: ?

This beer is proof that distributors hanging around in stores offering me free samples can persuade me to buy their beer. About 4 Hands Brewing Co.: 

4 Hands Brewing Co. are a brewery based out of Saint Louis, Missouri. The brewery was founded in 2011 by owner/president Kevin Lemp. The brewery features a number of brewers, including ex-Goose Island guru, Will Johnston. 4 Hands is all about hand-crafted beers, and they feature a barrel-aging program that uses wine and spirit barrels. Exciting stuff. Definitely check out their website or Facebook page.

The Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown is an American Brown Ale brewed with hefty malts. The bottle reads: "This is one robust brown ale. We use chocolate malts, roasted barley, and oats to give this beer that cast iron backbone. Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown pours a dark mahogany with aromas of dark chocolate and coffee."

4 Hands Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown

This is your typical Brown Ale affair: a dark brown, but not opaque body; two fingers of brown tinged head hanging around for the long haul. You could float a bottle cap on this head, probably courtesy of the oats. Yay, oats! Shining a bright light through the beer reveals that ruby red body, and there's some pretty active streams of carbonation cascading up. It's a Brown Ale, folks.

The aroma here is REALLY NICE. I cannot emphasize that enough. For this style, this is one of the best smelling Brown Ales out there. I'm getting knocked on my ass with huge waves of cocoa chocolate, caramel, toast and biscuit, Brown Ale nuttiness, and huge oats. There's some coffee-mocha-creamer in the mix as well. This is everything you want in a Brown Ale, and then some. It's a sweet aroma...and just yeah. Wow. 

The taste follows through with the aroma, with intense sweetness, a pillowy-smooth mouthfeel, and good vibes all around. I'm getting big chocolate, cocoa, coffee, creamer, mocha, toasted notes and biscuit, Tootsie chocolates, and even some hints of lightly floral hops on the finish. There's some nutty and toasty notes in here, and the whole thing just dials the execution up to 11. 

This is one of the better American Brown Ales I have had...I don't seek out this style very often, but there you go. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, and smooth as hell. Palate depth is phenomenal, but the complexity could maybe be a little higher. Or could it? I don't know....at 5.5% this plays things straight, and I like that. Up front: tons of cocoa and velvety smooth chocolate, oats, coffee creamer, coffee, mocha; the mids hit a biscuit and toast note, with more creamer and coffee, lingering cocoa sweetness; the back end continues to dust your palate with malt sweetness, faint hops show up to balance things out, and the finish is all malts. Fat, stupid, delicious.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is one of the best American Brown Ales I have had...at least the best one that doesn't cheat too much. Yeah, the oats are an adjunct and they help to beef things up, but this isn't an Imperial Brown Ale or some Christmas release. It plays things straight, and that's cool. 

Random Thought: 4 Hands, you seem cool. I might buy more of your shit.