10 Barrel Brewing S1NIST0R Black Ale

Sometimes a label is enough to catch my interest and make me try something new, and 10 Barrel Brewing out of Bend, OR clearly had that in mind with tonight's beer, 10 Barrel Brewing S1NIST0R Black Ale.

10 Barrel Brewing S1NIST0R Black Ale poured a dark, almost impenetrable brown into the glass with red highlights where the light passed through and was topped with a thin, sticky white head.  The nose was pure malt-forwardness, with toasted and dark notes of coffee and alfalfa.

10 Barrel Brewing S1NIST0R Black Ale had a crisp front, flat in carbonation but lively with a mineral water profile that settled too quickly into a roasted alfalfa body.  Sweet honey notes, backed by a funky, grassy body, held my palette for a while, and the ale ended on a long but mild fade of lingering alfalfa.  

Yes, I used the word alfalfa three times.  10 Barrel Brewing S1NIST0R Black Ale comes off as poorly integrated, smelling more of fresh rabbit pellets (the food) than complex malts.