The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery: First Edition

If you've ever taken a high school biology class studying the brain, you may have seen the image of a duck. You might take a second look and think it actually looks like a rabbit. This ambiguous image can spur simple conversations about how our brains process images based on perspective. Look at it from one direction and it looks like a duck, and the other a rabbit. Apparently though, the image comes from a German humor magazine in 1892, with the concept of, What two animals look most alike? Spurring a hundred years of scientific debate from a joke certainly makes it a unique image. And apparently it also struck brewer Paul Philippon enough that he wanted to tie his brewery to the famous picture, and connected his former life as a philosophy professor to his new venture in brewing. Thus Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewing was born. 
One of the great things about having beer loving friends in other parts of the country are that when they need a place to crash for a weekend, I can have them repay the favor in beer. Their mixed 6 pack contained many gems, but the ones I felt compelled to open up first were two beers made by a brewery that specializes in dark beers. 
One of the reasons I was so pumped was seeing Hoppy Bunny American Black Ale. I had just written a blog post about my favorite schwarzbier and to get another similar style for comparison was very enticing. Hoppy Bunny poured a dark sludge with wonderful hop oils visible on the top and sides of the glass. The taste was just as delicious as the smell, with piney hop freshness and deep chocolate malts in the finish. Just sweet enough to balance wonderfully with the bitter hops. 
One wasn't enough, plus we ran out of heat in the house so it was a bit chilly. Perfect weather for a rich dark beer. Luckily their Porter was just sitting there calling my name. Duck-Rabbit's Porter poured very similar to the last beer but didn't have the hops clinging to the glass as the head crashed into the beer sea. The smell is very minimal, but once it hits the lips it's just full of flavor. And this is one of the creamiest porters I've ever tasted. The beer just swims in chocolate malts and bready goodness. The hop finish is minimal but defiantly helps level out the sweetness. A wonderful porter. 
I really can't wait till I take a trip down to Virginia in a month to drink more Duck-Rabbit and see how great it can be fresh out of the tank. Defiantly worth picking these guys up if you ever get the chance.