Poured into an English pint glass, the appearance was a semi-burnt orange to red to brown color with a thin layer of white foaminess. Quickly dissipates. No lacing.
The aroma centers around caramel, toffee and nutty malts. Grassy and earthy hops. Sly peat, with a crisp English black tea to it.
The flavor was a decent earthy bitter to sweet profile. Some soft black tea. Black tea and caramel in the aftertaste. Sly crisp finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation seems to hit decently but low, it’s good for the style.
Overall, decent for the style and trying to build it together, but the blend isn’t quite there yet.

Bottle. Pours muddy brown with tan head. Nose and taste of caramel, toffee, sweet malt and candied dark fruit. Heavy malt. Full body. A bit too sweet.

22oz bottle @Brewers Jam-pours a thin light tan head and hazy amber color. Aroma is fruity, medium malt. Taste is fruity, medium malt, spice hops.

Amber colour, small white head. Aroma has mainly caramel malts. Flavour is sweet malty, and that’s basically all.

Pours bright mahogany into a tulip. Off-white pancake head has good retention. Roasted malt aromas. Flat caramel upfront with a crisp metallic finish.

Dark clear brown ale with a big bubbled white head. Faint malt aroma. Nice crisp malt with light diacetyl, thin and overall, boring. On tap Feb. 10, 2006.

2005 bottle. Unfiltered orange-tinted golden-brown with a rusty hue to it. Good off-white head recedes slowly to foamy cover. Smells of caramel, toffee, dirty yeast, a bit of rusty/iron-rich earth, caramelized sugar. Flavor begins dry and rather attenuated. But as it warms it gets lightly sweet. Some deep barley flavors, light roast, dark, lightly tart blackberries, salty mineral water and tons of dry toffee and faint hints of baker’s chocolate. Good mouthfeel, carbonation a bit on the high side, though. Runs a tenuous line of being not malty enough, but in the end, I liked the flavor profile. Medium body, smooth, easy palate.

Brown colour. Excellent aroma - toffee, graham cracker, molasses, Christmas fruitcake, portobello, earth. The palate on the other hand is bland over bland - vague caramel and a little bit of orange. What happened?