2004 Draught @ Redbones 11/04. Well well well, after 3 years of searching for this beer, here it is, in the pint in front of me. Not too bad looking for an APA, though to be fair, the Cisco I just drank looked much deeper, darker, and cloudier. This one was more of a yellow-cream color, with dark beige and light honey-orange tones. Small white head, mostly clear body. Aroma has hops, yes, and light yeast, but it is not hugely hoppy, nor extremely bitter. Fresh and light it is, with notes of tangerines, mint, pine sap and orange blossom honey. Flavor starts out restrained, interesting, I’m getting lots of sweet caramel malt and then the hops second, which are moderately bitter, but only lightly citric. A good dose of yeast is apparent, and is enjoyable, for me at least, as I’ve always liked Sierra Nevada’s yeast strain. Finish has a zip of carabonation, a good amount more citrus flavor (light lemon zest and oranges) and ends with a note of lightly toasted malt (probably caramunich or something similar). It’s a good deal sweeter than I expected, but has a very warm feel to it, with a medium body and a smooth consistency. Whereas Cisco’s Harvest is much sweeter and malt dominated, this has a thinner body, but showcases the green hops more effectively. A very good beer, to be sure.

Sampled draught at O’Briens, San Diego.
Clear nut bown. Somewhat restrained grapefruity hop aroma. Clean straight forward malt profile. Lingering salty bitter finish.

Sampled draught at Lucky Baldwin, Pasadena.
Pale amber, clear, no head. Restrained orange arioma. Dry with clean crystal malt profile. Light flavoured with short salty finish. Easy and straight forward session beer with simplistic malt character.

Bottled. Cloudy golden. Sulphury malt aroma. Sweetish and medium bodied. Some hops in a reasonably bitter finish. Not unpleasant, but I don’t grasp the idea with this beer.

Bottled. Clear golden. Rounded clean maltiness is this beer foremost feature. It’s medium bodied with average bitterness. Fairly well made easy drinking stuff.

Pours a lightly hazy golden orange color with a medium fluffy white head. Thin and sticky lacing. The aroma is midly hoppy with no discernible wheat. Light-bodied and crisp, with light hops, citrus and yeast flavors. As with the aroma there is little to no wheat present. The finish is Lager-ish, mildly bitter and carbonated. As it stands, this is a fair summer beer but falls short in the Wheat category.

Coffee and chocolate nose. Jet black, low creamy white head. Sweet chocolate, some sugar - mellow profile.

Re-rate Wooden, vanilla, marzipan, oranges and nut aroma. A bit belgian yeast funk. Hazy dark red brown, stable white lacing head. Heavy malt, burned coffee hops and wooden spices. Cognac, fruit, wood, raisins - fire in the end. Medium heavy and oily. Wooden aftertaste. Powerfull stuff - slowly gets too much though.

Bottle: Poured a light dark beer with a huge head with excellent retention. Aroma is comprised of sweet plums and some nice malt. Taste is quite wonderful with again the plums/raisins sweetness being noticeable. It ends with a wonderful warm feeling. Overall, this is a very good barley wine and would like to taste this again on a warm winter night.