• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Buffalo Sports News

Buffalo Sports News

  • Bills
  • Sabres
  • Colleges
    • Canisius
    • Syracuse
    • University at Buffalo

Belt’s Beer Garden: Murking for the Weekend

July 14, 2020 by Hustle Belt Leave a Comment

Austin Brothers’ Murking Man Blues

Today’s beer comes from Austin Brothers Beer Company and is perfect for working man to have this upcoming weekend.

Austin Brothers Beer Co. began in 2015 in Alpena, Michigan (near the top of the mitten on Thunder Bay in Lake Huron) after the owners found the city on a cross-country road trip and decided to move there.

Their distribution is still very limited and most of their beers are taproom only, with the occasional canned beer finding its way outside of Alpena.

Today I have a rarely released, and almost never canned, brew – their Murking Man Blues.


Despite the name taking inspiration from country legend Merle Haggard, this New England-style IPA was brewed with a trio of Australian and New Zealand hops – Motueka, Vic Secret, and Wai-iti. It packs a solid punch with a 7.2% ABV and each 16-ounce cans cost me $4.50. This beer was canned on June 2nd and reviewed on July 3rd.

It certainly lived up to the murky namesake, as it poured an incredibly cloudy/hazy muddled orange color with just about a finger of bright white head topping it off. The dense foam slowly faded down to a thin layer and laced the glass nicely as it did so.

The aroma was a combination of hoppy tropical fruits and floral notes with some flaked grain sweetness. A dash of pine and a slight hint of booze sat behind everything as well.

My first sip started with a thick and heavy mouthfeel and a slight hum of carbonation that gave way to that hoppy surge of tropical fruits.

It was pineapple and grapefruit that hit first with a dash of alcohol. Following those was a lighter melon and white grape flavor that peeked through but never overpowered the pineapple.

The grist appeared midway through with a bready, cereal-like flavor that was quickly overpowered by the hops.

Murking Man continued on with a juicy swelling of pineapple, melon, and pithy grapefruit. The burst of tropical flavors late in the sip slowly faded out, leaving just the grapefruit rind flavor lingering on afterwards.

It ended with that citrus peel flavor and a tiny bit of dryness sitting on my tongue for a few minutes after everything else had disappeared.

This was a rather heavy IPA and that made drinking it fast difficult. It was not a crushable, easy sipping brew but, rather, one that was meant to be sipped slowly and enjoyed over a longer period of time.

The brew didn’t initially seem like a NE IPA, as the first half wasn’t very juicy and was more average IPA than anything. However, as it warmed up, the juiciness increased and the bitterness faded some, making the final half of the can a much more enjoyable.

If I rated this beer based on the first half of my experience, it would have been a bit lower…

However, that second half was vastly different. Maybe I just got over zealous and dove in too quickly? Give this beer, and your taste buds, a moment to warm up. The second half really was better than the first.


Filed Under: University at Buffalo

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Best Food and Drinks to Enjoy While Watching the Sabres
  • 2022 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25: Someday, Maybe (50-41)
  • The Bruce Exclusive: Narratively relevant
  • Luke Knox, younger brother of Bills TE Dawson Knox, passes away
  • Bills linebackers coach Bobby Babich loves the jugs (machine)

Categories

Archives

Our Partners

All Sports

  • WIVB 4
  • WGR 550 SportsRadio
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • ESPN Rochester
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Football

  • Buffalo Bills
  • Bills Gab
  • Buffalo Rumblings
  • Bills Wire
  • Buffa Low Down
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Football Talk
  • Total Buffalo Bills

Hockey

  • Die By The Blade
  • Elite Prospects
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Sabre Noise
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • College Sports Madness
  • Forgotten 5
  • Hustle Belt
  • Inside The Loud House
  • Orange Fizz
  • Saturday Blitz
  • UB Bull Run
  • The Daily Orange
  • Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in