Sample during SF Beer Week 2014. (my first one from this brewery) Brownish with a small head. Aroma and taste of malt, toffee, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate and some light hints of earth. Relaxed and easy to drink. An ok one.

Tap at Capitol Beer in Sacramento, CA. Pours amber with a very white head. Aroma is a bit peaty/bready. Med body. Flavor is lightly, lightly smoked malt with some arguably floral/citrus hop. It’s pretty tasty - with just a hint of heat - and it finishs with a slightly blended malt whiskey flavor - probably on the dry side. Nice.

Draft @ Lost Coast. Pours a dark amber color with a small off-white head. Has a malty spicy aroma with some peaty hints. Sweetish malty warming spicy flavor with hints of caramel and vanilla. Has a long warming malty spicy caramel finish.

Draft at Lucky Baldwin. A brown beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of malt and caramel as well as a light touch of alcohol. The flavor is very sweet with strong notes of caramel and medium notes of brown sugar, leading to a dry bitter and caramel finish. Good body.

From tap. Pours dark brown with small redish glare. Roasted malt and slight hoppy spiced aroma. Flavour starts spiced hoppy but also holds a slight roasted malt base. Goes quite bitter and hoppy into the finish.

On tap at the Oldsmar Tap House. Served up cold in the tumbler with clear deep copper body, tan head and spotty lacing. The aroma is faint (thanks to the serving temperature) with semi sweet roasted malts and little else. The taste is in stark contrast to the nose with big brash bold roasty. I get malt sweetness and rich malt roastiness meeting up with some fruity esters. A pine hop bitterness builds along with the roastiness masking some of the sharp pine flavor leaving an increasingly near vague hop bitterness into the finish. The beer is too heavy on the fruity esters with a nearly cherry cough syrup experience by mid glass consumption.

Draft. Mahogony beer with a light cream-colored head. Slight citrus aroma with caramel. Caramel, citrus, and light earth flavor. Medium body. Lingering caramel, rich malt, light citrus. Nice malt flavorwithout overpowering. Good beer.