Keg at the brewpub in Beaverton, 11/11/14. Lightly hazed golden amber topped with a moderate off white swirl. Nose is caramel, light spice, rich fruits, vanilla, touch booze fumes. Taste comprises caramel malt, spice, toffee, fruit cake notes. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Drinkable but fails to deliver on the ABV presented.

On tap at the brewery. Pours a reddish copper color with a medium tan head. The aroma is light caramel, some spices, crystal malts. The flavor is more light spices, toffee, some sweet fruity malts, caramel. Smooth. Fine beer.

Bottle courtesy of gunhaver. Pours clear copper with thin white head. The aroma is pretty full with brown sugar, prunes, raisins and ripe cherries. The taste is dark fruity sweet with raisins, smooth sweet cherries and prunes followed by brown sugar. It dries out a bit into the finish with a pulse of sweet malts taking the experience into the after taste.

Bottle. Poured mahogany red with thin fast dissipating head. Little lacing. Aroma of malt and raisins. Flavour is moderate malt, with caramel and raisin notes. Flat chalky finish.

Draft. A hazy amber beer with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet and very malty, which gives it notes of caramel. The flavor is sweet with quite a lot of alcohol and malt as well as a touch of whiskey.

Draft. Rich amber beer with an off-white head. Malty, low spice, low fruit aroma. Cherry flavor with malt backing.. Cherry lingers with nice malt complexity. Medium body. Nice. I don’t know where the cherry came from, but it’s there.

Very attractive pour. Strong caramel malt aroma. Slightly hazy reddish amber color. Frothy beige head that might lace, if it ever starts to collapse. Starts with sweet malt, accompanied by stone fruit and hop. This is more about malt than hop, and that’s probably appropriate for this style. It stays the lighter side of sticky, and it disquises the alcohol very well. The finish tends toward well balanced, and a very pleasant bitter (along with a bit of sweet fruit) remains in the mouth. Good one.

2003 bottle. Pours a medium brown, ruddy with medium peach hues. Strong pour reveals a large, creamy yellow flecked white head. Smells like light, peppery hops, velvety malting and creamy oatmeal. Maybe a hint of the alcohol. Flavor is somehow a mix between dry, papery hops, and sweet cream buttery malt. Lots of vanilla, almonds, cream and a hint of chocolate covered cherries. Flavor is interesting and big, body is medium to medium full, low carbonation.7/4/7/4/15
2004 bottle After seeing the Montreal crew’s reaction to this, I had to open the other bottle (both were purchased from Liquid Solutions about 4 months ago). While it’s definitely full of diacetyl, the body is still fairly creamy and not thin. The buttercream flavor does end up getting cloying and I pour most of the beer down the drain. Strange, the previous year’s was good stuff. 4/4/5/3/10