22 oz bottle from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA split with my brother-in-law over dinner.
Excellent color on the pour, perhaps a little darker than some in the style, the depth of the mahoghany is quite striking. Head is somewhat disappointing though, fades quickly and not much lace.
Nose reveals some typical malt character with sweetness, but there is a hint of hops too.
Similar situation in the taste with the majority of the body made up from the typical, sweetish, caramel, sugary notes but again there is a bit of a hop bite hanging around and in the finish.
Frankly I could do without the large hop presence in the beer since I feel it is a slight bastardization of the style. The bitterness gathers pace as the bottle is consumed and ends up being a bit of an annoyance.
I’ve been pretty unimpressed with Pennichuck so far and this really doesn’t do much to change that situation for me. One and done here, especially with so many other, better exmples of the style out there at this time of year.