Vintage Ale (2013)

Pour is a dark brown with a large tan head. Aroma is a nice sugar with some dark fruit. Flavor is a bit sugary sweetness with some caramel and molasses. Finish is more sweetness with some fruit and spice. This one probably needs to lay down for awhile as the sweetness takes over everything. A little to sweet now but some age should take sweetness down a bit.

Bottle. Always one of my favorite deals of the year. Pours with a very deep cola brown hued body with a moderate to large off-white to beige head of foam. Good retention. Aromas are of persimmon, dark fruit, typical Unibroue esters and strong candied spice phenolics (cardamom, clove, coriander amongst others). Plum, dark fruit, cake. Very spicy and complex. A bit vinous. Flavors are of dark fruit, plums, slightly tart, a hint of roast as well. Lots of house yeast character. Rounded malt. Dry finish yet still rich. Short duration. Very lightly metallic. Fuller carbonation. I definitely liked the last two vintages (fresh) a bit more than this one. Still quite a good deal.

750 c&c from Trader Joe’s in Davis, CA. Pours very dark brown with a creamy, somewhat fizzy, light tan head. Aroma of dark fruit and spice, with something quite different - perhaps licorice. Or fennel. Med body or better. Flavor reflects the aroma, along with dark malt. Something like a medicinal plant in the mix. It’s just on the sweet side, but the spice and herbs keep the malt under control.