Judge's Review: 82 Rating - Table Of Contents by Monday Night Brewing

Table Of Contents by Monday Night Brewing is an interesting concept, being a small Brett beer that is actually fermented in red wine barrels, not just aged. However, the promise of the concept does not seem fully realized. This is being evaluated as a Category 28C Wild Specialty Beer as per the 2015 BJCP Beer Style Guidelines due to the fact that it is fermented in wood.

Evidence of a Brett-type fermentation is quite apparent in the aroma, with an obvious barnyard character and what seems to be a touch of a Lacto sharpness. These characters are rather thin, though, with little underlying complexity. The color is a light gold, with a surprising level of clarity and a pure white medium bubble head with moderate retention.

The flavor unfortunately does not carry through much of the promise of the aroma. There is a moderate tartness up front with a touch of Brett barnyard, but the base malt character seems to dominate, coming through as rather sweet for a small beer such as this. Hop character is also rather subtle. The middle and the finish retain the base malt sweetness, which comes out as being almost worty and underattenuated, leaving the finish and aftertaste a bit flabby. Interestingly, though it was fermented in a red wine barrel, the wine character does not come through to any extent. The body is a light-medium, and the carbonation is at a moderate level.

Table Of Contents is a rather fascinating premise and is interesting in its own way. However, there is simply not enough of the anticipated character delivered in the flavor to make it truly memorable. Cheers and enjoy!