Against The Grain brewery out of Louisville, KY has delivered another collaboration beer with moderate success. This time with a crew called Holy Mountain, whose name alone would grant them entry into the tabernacle, however, in this case, they have produced a beer using foraged walnuts to smoke the malts for this Amber Ale aged in bourbon barrels. Ashes has a decent tart and smoky smell to it that wafts out right as you open it up. Oh, and speaking of opening it, upon opening this one, beer gushed up and out of the bottle, and all over my kitchen counter and floor, like a champagne bottle that had been shook up, point deduction there. I’m surprised this bottle didn’t explode in my fridge. I wonder if the barrel developed the tartness in this beer, as well as the component that caused some kind of pressure inducing foam and beer spewing monster inside this bottle that caused all the fuss. In their defense, the hidden notes of barrel power in this beer hit my palate just right. This beer reminds me of Funkenrauch which fared a bit better in the overall score (well, the clean up was much easier). Ashes to Mashes isn’t great. I’m still upset about the mess it made. And ATG didn’t do this alone; I wonder where this brewery would be today if it weren’t for the collaboration beers they’ve been involved in? 4.1 smokestacks awarded in the overall category.
| Brewer | Against The Grain and Holy Mountain Brewing |
| Beer Name | Ashes to Mashes |
| Brewer’s Description | Amber Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels. Typically it’s the last thing you’ll hear before you’re covered with dirt. All the nuts in the world can’t buy you an eternal life. So live in the moment!. For just that reason, our friends from Holy Mountain Brewing cam all the way from Seattle, Washington to brew and thus was born Ashes to Mashes, Nuts to Butts! It’s brewed with malt smoked form foraged black walnuts and aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels. So get it now or get it never. |
| Food Pairings | Pub food |
| Brewer Location | Louisville, KY and Seattle, WA |
| Alcohol content by volume | 6.0% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 40 |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 3 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 3.5 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 4 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 3 |
| Barrel Power 1-7 (in name only – burns nose) | 2 |
| Overall Happiness Rating: 1-7 (low – high) | 4.1 |
These Holy Mountain guys (beards in black t-shirts) seem honest enough. Their website could use some work:
http://www.holymountainbrewing.com/beers
No mention of this beer on Against the Grain’s page of over 300 beers they’ve produced. That’s odd…
SmokeBeerMinistry 