The sampler, Brooklyn tap: pours clear brown with whitish head that leaves lacing. Aroma is malt, sugar, tobacco, and booze. Taste is somewhat sweet but not cloying. Some bitterness in there. Not too much aftertaste. Not bad.

Draught. Cloudy brown with small spongy beige head, no distinct aroma, caramel and roasted malt taste, thin body, medium carbonation, longish finish with alcohol aftertaste. Interesting but not spectacular

12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 12/30/2013. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy deep orange/copper color with a 1-2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, raisin, plum, cherry, apple, herbal, grass, light leather, light nuttiness, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and fruity yeast ester notes; with good strength. Taste of caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, raisin, plum, cherry, apple, herbal, grass, light leather, light nuttiness, and yeast earthiness. Fair amount of earthy herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, raisin, plum, cherry, apple, herbal, grass, light leather, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity and balance of dark/bready malt and fruity yeast ester flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a smooth and fairly creamy/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice old ale style. All around good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and fruity yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

Thanks Mike. Burnt red appearance, 3 finger off-white head. Nice mocha and oak nose. Taste is sweet and a bit of cheddar. crisp finish, has a barleywine sort of bitterness. rasisins and cinnamon as well

12 ounce bottle from State Line Liquors. 2010 vintage. Pours a hazy reddish-brown with a large frothy tan head. Good head retention. Aroma of apple, berries, citrus, toffee and faint spice. The taste is toffee, apple, spice, citrus, toasted malts. Faint hops. Medium bodied, slight warmth, soft carbonation. Maybe just a tad bit past its prime but still tasty.

Bottle. Raisin, chocolate malt and alcohol aroma. Cloudy orange-brown color with small head. Mildly sweet toffee malt and moderately bitter herb and alcohol flavor. Nice.

12 oz bottle, marked as vintage 2009. Pours a hazy red amber with an off-white head and lots of chunky debris. Aroma is extremely rich with caramel, fresh bread, honey, and dark fruit. Flavor leads on ripe dark fruit, caramel, and honey, receding into a smoky, leathery finish. Some cardboard-like oxidation. I’m finding this rather enjoyable, though objectively it’s a bit off in a few areas.

Bottle from New Beers Distributors, New York, in 2009
Dark amber to brown color; generous creamy head. The aroma, with caramel and chocolate, is quite dusty, a bit soapy. Good body strength and smooth mouthfeel; caramel flavor, moderate residual sweetness, light dust; correct bitterness, traces of liquorice. Strange; mild; easy.

Bottle. Gusher, maybe infected. Pours cloudy brown. Nose of grain, butterscotch and funk. Taste of malt, butterscotch and grain.