Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha Review

Name: Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.3%

Well after a long weekend of moving and 3 days without an internet connection, I have returned! Since it's my first night back in front of a keyboard, I figured that now would be an appropriate time for a beer review.

About 3 weeks ago, I picked up some beers from down in the Twin Cities and one of the brands I got my hands on was Bent Brewstillery. I have already looked at their Nordic Blonde Ale, which I found to be very good so now I'm taking a look at their Dark Fatha Imperial Stout, or "Emperial Stout" as it's known by on the front of the label. Speaking of which, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the heavy handed Star Wars references present here; They even gave the already pimped-out Darth Vader a gold "tooth," which is original to say the very least.

Dark Fatha pours an opaque black color with a very dark brown head. The lacing retention is very good and there is some minor carbonation climbing up the sides of the glass.

Aroma-wise, it starts off with some nice chocolate malts, a vanilla sweetness, some toffee notes and some moderate roasted barley. The roastiness and malty aspects of the nose are surprisingly well balanced.

With that said, the flavor is fairly similar but with more of a roasty characteristic than before. Aside from that, you have your chocolate malt, vanilla and toffee flavors but with the roasted barley taking more of the center stage. The aftertaste is a mix of sweet vanilla, roastiness and a surprisingly hoppy flavor that comes seemingly out of nowhere.

The palate is a whole is very heavy in terms of body weight with some moderate carbonation. Despite all of this, there beer does contain a surprisingly smooth texture.

While I wish the flavor was just as balanced as the nose, Dark Fatha is still a very good tasting Imperial Stout and it's decently priced (At least what I paid for it.) Anyone looking for a good local Imperial Stout would be wise to check this out

Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha - 8.5/10

Bent Brewstillery Nordic Blonde Review

Name: Bent Brewstillery Nordic Blonde 

Style: Blonde Ale

ABV: 5.7%

Earlier this year, a new brewery opened it's doors here in Minnesota called Bent Brewstillery, based out of Roseville, Minnesota. The first thing that makes this brewery unique is that Bent Brewstillery merged with another brewery called Pour Decisions Brewing and you can still find some of their beers in Bent's line-up. The other thing that makes this brewery unique is that it also makes spirits (Single Malt Whiskey, Gin, etc.) in addition to beer; Hence the name.

When I was down in the Twin Cities a couple weeks ago, I managed to grab a couple of bottles for myself. The first one I'm going to be looking at is their Nordic Blonde, which is described by the brewery as an "Amber Blonde," though it's classified on Beer Advocate as a Blonde Ale. 

Nordic Blonde pours a mildly hazy golden color with a thin filmy head. The lacing is fairly abundant and the visible carbonation is fairly mild. 

The aroma of starts out with some pale malt notes with some pungent floral hops and an encompassing yet fitting lemon zest. 

The flavor starts out with a fairly strong floral hoppiness, pale & Munich malts, barley and a light lemon zest.  The aftertaste has a distinct and lingering lemon and Munich maltiness.

The palate is generally pretty light with some moderate carbonation to boot, which gives it a crisp feeling yet it allows you to soak in the flavors in this beer.

It's definitely more of a different take for a Blonde Ale but I think it works quite well! On top of that, it's very reasonably priced as I picked this up for around $5. If you're looking for something a little off the beaten path with the Blonde Ale-style, you owe it to yourself to check this out!

Bent Brewstillery Nordic Blonde - 8.5/10