The 750th beer to be showcased on Belt’s Beer Garden is Cinnamon Crunch Ale from Michigan’s Kuhnhenn Brewing
Today marks yet another milestone for Belt’s Beer Garden. This is the 750th beer to be featured over the past nine and a half years. For the 750th beer I wanted to find something to honor the MAClands, where this page got its start. So I figured let’s go with something right by Huskie Stadium East, and the location of the MAC Championship Game – Detroit, Michigan
Just a few miles north of Detroit is the suburb of Warren, Michigan. And, nestled on the city’s north side you can find Kuhnhenn Brewing. The cool thing about Kuhnhenn is that, even though they make beer, they don’t JUST do beer. They also make craft mead, wine, and vodka so anyone that comes in can find something to drink.
They are also one of the oldest breweries around, having been open for more than 25 years, dating back to 1998, and even have a second location in nearby Clinton, Michigan, about eight miles from their original brewhouse.
Despite visiting Michigan a ton, and going to Detroit for more than a few NIU bowl games and MAC Championship appearances, I have never had a single beer from them. So, when I found them on Tavour, I definitely had to grab myself a can or two.
Today I have the Cinnamon Crunch Ale. For this beer they took a blonde ale base and added a bunch of cinnamon and sugar to replicate everyone’s favorite childhood cereal. It features a 5% ABV and the 12-ounce can was just over $5.
The brew poured a bright golden straw color with almost no head forming. There was the smallest bit of eggshell white foam that never reached half a finger high and quickly fizzled down into a razor thin ring around the edge of the glass.
On the nose, this beer was incredibly sweet. It was packed to the brim with a sticky-sweet cinnamon sugar goodness. There was a hefty bready backing of grains that really nailed the cereal-esque homage to Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Each sip begins with a light, watery body with little carbonation. Bookending each sip are clear indicators that this is indeed a beer, as very quickly off the bat there is a breadiness from the grist and just a hint of citrus – mostly lemon – that adds a bit more complexion to the beer before those adjuncts take over.
From there, the namesake additives appear with a big pop of cinnamon and sugar sweetness that carries the rest of the way. However, there is more to the flavor profile than just a whole bunch of cinnamon and sugar. On the back end, once that cinnamon begins to fade, the lemon zest and grains are once again noticeable for the final moments.
A slight bitter hoppy twinge can be picked up on the finish, nothing too much at all, as most of it is masked by the sugary notes that linger on longer than the cinnamon. And, other than that, this blonde ale finishes fine. There isn’t a super resinous sticky feeling…just a bit of that sweetness, a bit of grain, and some lemon…which kind of combines to give off a lemon Pledge quality for a brief moment.
It’s a solid brew and is light enough that it’s a great way to start the day. With it just being 5% you can have one with breakfast (should you be so inclined) and keep going about your day. It’s light, it’s pretty tasty, but I wish it followed the aroma more than it does. Just a bit too much citrus on the backend to go with the sweeter flavors.
