2003 bottle. Mildly hoppy aroma, some light yeast notes. Weird taffee (not toffee) aroma, slightly watery too. Medium brown, mostly clear, muddy as it pours but clears up to a lighter orange with a good sized almond colored head. Begins with some raisins, dates, caramel and light hops. True to the brewery, the body thins way out on the finish. Alcohol comes out but there is still a peppery hops flavor at least. Sweet enough with some complexity, but nothing to write home about.
Rerate. Same vintage, consumed on 2/17/06. Dry and lightly phenolic in the nose, lots of black licorice, dry nutty herbal qualities, no hops at this point. Flavor is equally dry, yeasty and still well carbonated, with plenty of dry raisins, almonds and more anise. Nearly 100% attenuated from the yeast that keeps on giving, so it’s not cloying and due to the strong carbonation, not overly oxidized. But the flavors are too dry, borderline astringent and there is a slight alcohol sharpness on end. Think I’ll keep my score the same. I’d be interested to try some other vintages though.

Amber; aroma of sorbitol candy, oranges, earth, and pine. Strong malt - a somewhat one-dimensional malty barley wine. English style.