Brau Brothers Elisha's Olde Ale

Brau Brothers Brewing held a competition in 2009 called the South Dakota Homebrewers Challenge. I know you're probably wondering why a Minnesota brewery was having a South Dakota homebrew contest. Well, all I can tell you is that Lucan (where Brau Brothers is located) is a little over an hour away from South Dakota. Other than that, I'm not sure why. The important thing is that a homebrew competition took place, and they chose a winner: Elisha Page's recipe for an old ale.

What kind of reward did Elisha Page receive as the winner? Brau Brothers brewed and bottled his recipe as a limited edition beer. I bet a lot of homebrewers dream about something like this happening.

When it came time to make the recipe, the Braus decided to host a group-brew. They welcomed any homebrewers from Minnesota and South Dakota who wanted to help in the process. Of course, Elisha himself was there to make his brew, watching over his baby. Now the beer is bottled and wearing its creator's name, which has to make him pretty happy.

Elisha's Olde Ale is a variation on an English-style old ale. It's brewed with molasses and aged on oak cubes. There is no ABV listed on the bottle, and I can't find any specific numbers online. The info I did find claimed this beer to be around 10%. I'm pretty excited to try it.

I pour the 750 ml bottle into my imperial pint glass. A 3 finger light tan head shows up with little effort and gradually subsides to a thin foamy cap. The body is dark brown with some hints of ruby.

In the aroma I detect a little caramel followed by some toasted biscuity malt. There is some fruit present in the nose, similar to raspberries. It also smells like it could be a little dry, maybe just a product of the ABV.

Wow, I can definitely taste the molasses. It's that dark rich type of sweetness, and it leads into a nice toffee flavor when combined with the vanilla qualities from the oak. Then there is just a hint of dark chocolate covered tart cherries followed by a welcome bitterness that cleanses some of the sugar from your palate. The alcohol blends well and isn't very noticeable.

Mouthfeel is medium thick and the carbonation is very light. A nice alcohol warming builds and some pretty lacing sticks to the glass as I drink.

This is a very tasty old ale. The delicious caramelized sweetness of the combination of molasses and malt is mellowed by a solid bitter finish. The ABV is hidden well, until it sneaks up on you. This is another impressive bottling from Brau Brothers, and a wonderful recipe from Elisha Page. If you tend to enjoy rich malty brews, this one is right up your alley. This limited beer can still be found in some liquor stores. Give it a try before it's gone!