12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Loud crack upon opening yields insanely high carbonation into the glass, this took a while to pour. Pours hazy dark reddish copper color with a huge 2 finger fluffy off white head with insane retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Spotty foamy lacing clings to the glass, with a ton of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, raisin, toffee, toast, bread, floral, and herbal hops. Pretty nice aromas with solid strength and balance. Taste of caramel, toast, toffee, raisin, bread, light pine, floral, herbal, and earthy spiciness. Decent amount of earthy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, toast, raisin, toffee, bread, light pine, and earthy spiciness on the finish for a short bit. Solid balance of flavors and fairly robust feeling for 4.8%; zero cloying flavors on the finish. Quite dry on the finish as expected from the high carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a lightly creamy and very crisp mouthfeel that is ok. I swirled a lot of the carbonation out of this one on purpose. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a solid ESB. This was probably infected, but the taste didn’t seem to be affected that badly. In the end it was pretty tasty, I had no problems finishing the glass.

Bottle thanks to mikem409: This bottle was very angry at me, first the cork was stuck and after several attempts to remove I had to dig it out with a knife. In the mean time the carbonation had sprung into action. Poured a murky coppery brown with a huge lacing head. Aroma is strong fruit with some malts and metallic. Very hot forward alcohol with boozy sticky fruit with loads of caramel malt.

A dark copper amber ale with a thin off white head. In aroma, a smooth herbal malt with grassy hops, light veggie notes. In mouth, a sweet herbal caramel malt with light grassy hops, not bad. Bottle at Mondial 2012, June 10 2012.

Sampled from the tap at the 15th annual MBGSF. Pours a hazy deep orangish amber with a near white head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has a light grassiness with a hint of bitter pine and a bread backing. Flavor has a lot of earthy bread and grain with a hop profile that has note of earthy grass and pine.

Tasting at Papsø’s, corked bottle
Orange-amber color, cloudy, with small sized head. Sweetish malt flavor, with some fruitiness. Sweet malt flavor, some oak, some astringency, quite high alcohol perception, ripe fruits. Not bad, but messy.

12 ounce bottle into snifter, no bottle dating. Pours hazy dark reddish brown color with a fairly dense 1 finger khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Some nice soapy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of huge raisin, grape, plum, molasses, caramel, toasted malt, bread, and light earthiness. Pretty nice aromas, that are much fruitier than I was expecting. Taste of big raisin, plum, tart cherry, caramel, molasses, toast, light chocolate, bread, earth, and a bit of a metallic twang. Lingering notes of dark fruit, molasses, caramel, bread, and earth on the finish for a good bit. Flavors are quite balanced; but there are a bit of off flavors noticeable. Medium carbonation and body; with a very creamy and slick mouthfeel as expected. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed well after the finish. Overall this is a good wee heavy. It was certainly fruitier than I was anticipating; but it was still quite enjoyable.

11th December 2009
Hazy and somewhat dirty looking amber beer. Light yeasty nose. Fairly dry palate that is also a little crisp. Sweet aromatic malts - typically tripel. Subtle tones of orange and banana. More creamy malt and and minerally aniseed. Soft dry finish. Hangs together very well.

Sample at the brewpub. The beer pours a dark amber-brown color with a medium light beige head that evaporates steadily. Patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of peaty malt, caramel and hops. Medium body with flavors of roasted malt, dark fruit and hops. The finish is malty with notes of berries left behind. Above average overall.

Sample at the brewpub. Pours brownish-black with a medium tan head that recedes steadily. Stringy lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate and a touch of honey. Light body with flavors of sweet malt, honey and a tinge of mineral water. The finish is sweet and roasty with a short malt aftertaste. Slightly above average overall.