Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN.
It continues. I need to keep checking, rechecking, researching beers to see if they've appeared here over the past nine years, or have I reviewed them before and posted them elsewhere?
Today, I stopped into Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, and a plethora of great beers were available, including this one. Has it ever appeared here in the Nib? Amazingly, not in it's original form, no. On BeerAdvocate.com? Yes, over twelve years ago, when I used too much punctuation.
I will now share that original 2007 review, while I drink it fresh from a crowler bought tonight. If there's any deviation between tasting now and remembering then, I'll let you know.
Eye of the Storm, 10th Anniversary Beer, 2007
10% alcohol, 10 varieties of honey.
Slightly hazed orange coloring, slimmed white head.
Aroma is sweetness and citrus, honey and orange...which blossoms where harvested here? 10 of them, we know, but what kinds are a mystery. Flowery, almost, but not quite perfumey...with a solid malt base behind. Quite intriquing and utterly unique.
Taste: slick, and sweet, with a bold, big flavor. One of the fullest bodied of any honey ales I've ever had. There's a tidy hop buzz going on on top, and just the right malt ballast below, but this tasty honey base makes this ever-so delicious.
Supposedly 10% alcohol, for the 10 years of Town Hall, but I'm not feelin' it...yet...no, wait...it's starting to blaze!
Is it an ale? Or a mead? Or a honeywine? Or...???
Not that I care, it's just super-delicious in my book. Any time a brewer takes chances and comes up with some incredible new wrinkle in the folds of the beer style catalog, I'm on the cheering squad...but, only if it tastes as good as this!
Big carbonation in the mouthfeel with this one, bristling along the tongue, who knows what hops are at use, but the honey is larger in the profile of this guy. Full-bodied, with a big, thick, nearly viscous mouthfeel.
Dang, it's good! Wish their bottling lines were ready in time for this one, it's one to keep, and share, and have around for the good times and celebrations!
Damn! Wow! Cool! Other! One! Word! Exhultations!
Honestly, outside of Dogfish Head's Midas Touch, I don't think I've had any beer quite like this...and that one was far too thick and un-beer-like. This is so nice...it's good enough to salute 10 years of great beers and plenty of innovation, too! Hats off to Pete and Mike and the whole crew, long may they wave!
I have checked into this beer three times previously on Untappd, each time at the pub. It's never been released in a growler/crowler before? Never? Amazing. I have reviewed the red wine barrel-aged version, Eye Wine Red, and then there was Vine's Eye, which was somehow different, and while researching these, I noticed that I copied and pasted, just as now, the original Eye of the Storm review back then, in April of 2017.
Oh, well, too late, I already did it. Maybe I thought I'd never have that beer again. This week, Town Hall has been bringing out the original versions of the barrel-aged beers, and making them available in the to-go formats. I like this. I'll be back for more.
As for this beer, would I change anything from my original review? Maybe less exclamation points, and toss in a yum-A-Dum, Dum.
This crazy honey ale is made with local MN honey and German pilsner malt. The result is a strong beer that tastes like you just "licked the spoon" from the honey jar.
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