Oh Snap! That's Tasty!
We are already on to beer five of Unafraid of the Dark VI! We are bringing back a fan favorite voted on by this year’s Unafraid of the Dark subscribers. The beer is called Oh Snap!, and it is our version of a ginger molasses cookie – in the form of a porter! Brewed with organic molasses and local ginger (from Wake Robin Farm), Oh Snap! has a tiny zip of ginger spiciness, which is nicely balanced by the deep caramelized flavors of the molasses and the bittersweet cocoa notes from the malt.
When folks voted for this beer, our whole team was quite thrilled. Not only are we really proud of this beer and enjoy drinking it (perhaps more than we should 🙂 ), but we were also excited that we could once again use an ingredient that highlights one of the farms around here that we love so much!
Abbey – pictured below – of Wake Robin Farm is one of the only farmers around here that grows fresh ginger. It comes to us with the beautiful green stalks on it, which we don’t use in the beer, but we often use for soup stocks, as it imparts such a bright ginger flavor. Before adding the ginger root to the beer, we first processed it into small pieces and then added to the secondary.
As a side note, if you come visit us at the brewery and sit in what we call our ‘red hall’, you will notice a bunch of new pictures lining the walls. These are actually acoustic tiles that we recently had made and installed. The image of Abbey below is actually a photograph of one of the acoustic tiles!
Ginger Master Abbey From Wake Robin Farm – Now an Acoustic Tile at Throwback!
Mmm. Fresh Ginger!
Looking for more details on Oh Snap!? Here are our tasting notes:
– Appearance: Rich, deep, dark molasses color. Caramel colored head.
– Aroma: Slight ginger nose, toffee / malty sweetness
– Taste & Mouthfeel: Take a sip of this medium-bodied beer, and you will first get a touch of molasses sweetness, followed immediately by ginger, with a dry finish at the end. The ginger heat will be noticeable on your tongue – kind of like a little invigorating, lively zing, but as with many beers we do, it is very balanced – not overpowering at all. This beer is malt forward with no discernible hop bitterness – you should get burnt toffee, caramel, toasted oats, bittersweet chocolate -all complemented by the ginger.
– Pairing: Pair this beer with anything that might go well with ginger – for example Pork Chops with apple sauce, Apple Pie, roast duck, hoisin-glazed pork belly, and rich stews. It would also pair quite well with chocolate cake!
– Serving glass: At the brewery we will be serving this beer in a pub glass, although it would be just as nice served in a tulip glass. NOTE- in terms of serving temperature, we recommend 50-55 degrees. The ginger flavor becomes a bit more pronounced as the beer warms up.
– Stats: ABV is 6% and IBU is 42.
Oh Snap! will be available starting Wednesday, March 8th.