Bottle 1pt. 6fl.oz.[ Courtesy of henrikb ]. Clear medium to dark amber color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to light beige head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel - toffee, fruity notes. Flavor is moderate sweet and light to moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium to light, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20090710]

Bottle: Poured a deep copper color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of huge caramel malt with some nice notes of toffee and subtle dry fruits also noticeable. Taste is a mix between again some huge caramel malt with some very interesting notes of toffee and dry fruits. Medium sweetness is well balance with a full body, some great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. I hard heard that chances were that Mcneill’s bottles could be infected but I have to admit that this one was quite good.

I’ve had two bombers of this over the past week, both of which were quite different, and neither of which were that good, so I’m not sure what to think of this beer - both bottles were cloudy amber - both had a rather indistinct malty aroma, with some light hints of nuts, and a lot of earthy qualities (seems to be the norm with this brewer) - one bottle had a fairly nutty, caramel flavor, with subdued hop profile, and some bready english maltiness - another was rather plastic-like, lacking the strong malt components - both were a tad vegetal - neither were much like an old ale - I guess it’s hit or miss with these guys, all the way down to which bottle you choose.

Bottled. An unclear brown beer with a thin bubbly orange head. The aroma is sweet with notes of chocolate, citrus, and hops. The flavor is sweet malty with strong notes of citrus, but also hops. I find the body a bit thin - inspite of the 9% ABV - lack of residual sugar?

Reddish-brown body, thin off-white/buff head. Sweet, caramely aroma with hints of brown sugar. Quite light, at least compared to the other beers opened during the evening. Very sweet flavor as well, with brown sugar, toffee, and caramel, in addition to a touch of toast. Not very complex, but still decent. Thanks to OldGrowth for providing this as part of a trade.

03 or 04 bottle (not sure) compliments of bucknaked (probably 04 bottle). Pours well enough, great dark ruddy brownish red, quite bright and foamy, with plenty of carbonation. Obviously bottle conditioned. Aroma of sweet, challenging yeast, funky and peppery, lots of vanilla, oak, wood, earthiness, some dry caramel. Low hops profile. Flavor is yeasty and malty, almost to the point of a sweet belgian dubbel, but then it quickly dries out and picks up much yeast complexity. Hops are quite subtle, giving bitterness, but not overly so. A decent shot of maltiness is chewy and lingers. I like the yeast part, but the fruit is not estery and as detectable as I would like. Want some more figs, dates, plums and what not. Still a great beer and well made. Medium-full body.

Muddy dark amber-brown. Aroma of Lyle's Golden Syrup. Very sweet palate...oranges, nuts, earth...a little toffee in the finish, but you really have to be in the mood for sweet to enjoy this.