Taster pour at the source. Appearance is light brown (between root beer and iced tea), no sparkle, off white head quickly fades to ring, with sudsy lacing. Aroma is pine and malts. Taste is caramel malts, dank resin bitter, pine ending. Palate is medium bodied with thick, creamy texture, soft carbonation with bittersweet mix of sweet malts and dank crisp, bitter finish. Overall, nice balance of malts and hops in flavor and aroma and above average appearance and palate.

Draft at New England Tap House Grille. 4 oz. sample. Light toffee malt and pine needle aroma. Flavor is medium to sweet toffee with a light Earthy hop bitterness of low duration. Mild pine harshness for bitterness.

Well-made for the style and this falls into the American strong ale because of the ABV level. I was surprised how well the alcohol was hidden since I didn’t even know it was this strong until I entered my rating. That makes a statement.

Bottle from Bert’s shared with friends. Fairly clear deep auburn with a decent sized off white head. Aromas of caramel and toffee with lots of earthy pine and citrus. The flavor follows the aroma quite well but adds a solid sharp bitterness that at times is quite astringent. Hides the alcohol extremely well. Decent but needs some tweaks to make this outstanding.