6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask half pint at NERAX on 5/3/06
Strongly beige, almost single-malt colored body, with a touch of chestnut and a very foamy off-white/beige head that is retained well and provides spotty lacing. Very high clarity.
Very dry, EKG-like aroma is almost dusty, with some very dry straw, nutty, maris otter malt maybe? Whatever it is, it’s almost oily, with a dry cherryskin-meets-amaretto note with a hint of earthiness and some heavy drying, unfortunately cardboard-like on the end.
Though the yeast has dropped, the flavor opens up VERY nutty, very dry, heavily attenuated and with the oily-semi-sweet floor malts that produce plenty of nuts and moderate earthiness on the end. Tingly carbonation is actually quite strong for a cask ale, and I’m not sure if it works in the beer’s favor or not. It certainly adds a refreshing snappiness to the texture, but could break up some much needed sweetness/malt-softness. Minimally herbal, dusty, straw-like hops show almost no bitterness and little flavor. Not watery at all, though, for the style, with no alcohol and nearly imperceptible diacetyl levels.