White Wolf Golden Ale
Here’s a new one for you North Carolinians out there! White Wolf Brewery out of Farmville, NC (hint, hint – it’s actually Duck Rabbit Brewery, but I reckon they don’t want to compromise their dark beer reputation, so they’ve created a spin-off). This is a Golden Ale, and that’s all we know – no indication whether we’re dealing with a Belgian or American or even what the ABV is, so we’ll just have to judge this one on taste alone.
The Golden Ale pours, actually, a very dark gold color – far darker than a typical golden ale. This is topped off with a white head that spiders down the glass, leaving a considerable web as the beer goes down the gullet. In the nose there is, surprisingly, quite a lot of caramel. In addition, there are hints of horehound candy and anise – none of what I would’ve expected from this ale. The taste of this beer is equally surprising. On the tip of the tongue, there is a quick sugary sweetness that exists just for a blink. After that, big blasts of toffee and caramel come to the forefront, riding the tongue all the way to the back of the mouth, growing bigger as they go down the line. The malty flavors here seem fairly dark, only occasionally showing tints of the light or refreshing characteristics you might expect from a ‘golden’ ale. There is a tad bit of hop here, but no overwhelming or even impressive bitterness. So, frankly, I’m confused. This isn’t a bad beer – it’s flavorful and full and almost syrupy in its mouthfeel. However, it isn’t like any golden ale I’ve ever had. Perhaps you could consider this a hybrid between a pale ale and an amber, but I wouldn’t place those in the ‘golden’ category. Overall, I’m not too sure what to say about this – I likely won’t buy it again, but I can see some redeeming qualities. In my humble opinion, this is a far cry from the quality of the Duck Rabbit brews, but let’s let them crawl before they walk – maybe the next one will be better…
PS – I’ve learned that, apparently, this is a collaboration between the Duck Rabbit folks and the Wolf Beer Co that contract brews. Not exactly a spin-off, but you know…
Categories: Beer Reviews, Golden Ale, White Wolf
Follow Us On Twitter
No Comments »
Care to comment?
