“Introducing our King River Altbier, a rich and smooth amber ale with a copper to red colour. Crafted with a clean finishing ale yeast and 100% Voyager malts, this revamped brew boasts a beefier ABV for a fuller body. Enjoy a complex blend of bready and biscuit flavors in every sip.”

Glassware: English pint.
Appearance: Attractive amber complexion with soft copper red hues when held to the light. It only manages a short tan head which forms a collar. Lots of spotty lace in its wake though.
Aroma: We don’t know a hell of a lot about altbier other than the basics so it’s fun to have one in front of us again. As it looks like an amber ale we were expecting the typical caramel malt sweetness, maple, nuttiness etc but there’s none of that. Instead we get flaked chocolate, fruit esters, tobacco, buttery biscuits, plum and dark rye bread. Intriguing to say the least.
Flavour: Gives off bock vibes. It has that cleaner all-round lager quality but elaborated with rich and sweet crystal malts. Altbier is one of the OG hybrid styles as it’s brewed with an ale yeast but cold fermented which explains the above. Complex yeast esters coupled with toffee, rye bread, dark fruits and carob result in a very intricate yet surprisingly light finish that draws out nicely on the back.
Mouthfeel: Smooth with good consistency. Medium bodied, flat-ish Co2. The 5% ABV adds to its complex drink-ability.
Overall: Quite rare to see an altbier which is cool. The last one we tried was from Slow Lane back in early 2022. Trust KR to be the ones to breathe some life into an old and underrated European style. Did a good job on it too. As to be expected.