Rusty Rail "Möbius Pretzel" Imperial Ale

First off, there is no such thing as a "pretzel ale," as far as I can see. So, I did some digging and found that other sites categorized this as a wheat beer. So, I pulled out my trusty, etched wheat ale glass and I'm going to dive into this. I wish they would have been a bit more exact and less fun with their name.

The clear brown beer has some red creeping in, and it reluctantly releases a smidgen of a head that evaporates into a sparse splotch of bubbles with a strong ring around the sides of the glass. The aroma is sweet molasses and honey with a distinct salt added. It smells very malt-heavy for a wheat ale. I would have guessed this was more of a bock or dunkel. 

First sip is NOT a wheat beer. I know people on the internets (not Rusty Rail who are coy about it) say that it's a wheat ale, but this doesn't have much grain in it at all. Well, it has SOME grain, certainly, but the sweet malt and the added salt are really giving this a very dunkel feel, and it's not a half bad dunkel. In fact, it may be very good. 

Tip-in is silky smooth with a pointed sweetness and barely a ripple of carbonation to upset the smoothness. The middle raises grains to meet the sweet caramel and honey malt that sports dark fruits and a surprisingly light salting. The finish is suddenly dry and more grains to bring forth a bit more of the salt as the caramel and dark fruit fade into the trail-off.

Bottom Line: A very nice change of pace.

3.5/5