4.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
2004 draught. Auburn with some dark yellows, quite clear, little head. Aroma has earthy, soily hops in it, a touch of roast maybe, but it’s quite faint. Flavor begins with a small dose of chocolate sweetness, then comes the nuttiness, big and chewy and finally it ends on an astringently bitter note. Don’t see the complexities they talk about really. It’s a hard style to make, but they just need more malt in this one. This thing is dry, almost burnt tasting at times and horribly watery.
Tried
on 10 Jul 2004
at 15:43
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2004 on tap. Soft ruby-orange color, light haze, slightly translucent with a small rapidly disippating oatmeal colored head. Smells of light chocolate, raspberries, a hint of doughy yeast and some bit of clove. Flavor is quite impressive, full of candi sugar and sweet sweet caramel flavors. Lots of red fruit and a medium-full body. Even served warm, this stuff is able to mask the 11 percent alcohol very well. Only after drinking a lot of it do I begin to notice a few problems in the finish. A hint of acidity and some strange, almost dirty/soily flavors make their way in, but it’s fairly minor and this is still a grand beer.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Jul 2004
at 15:37
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
An exercise in overpricing. Poured a fiery copper orange, with a thin off-white head. Estery banana aroma. This tasted like circus peanuts- strong banana flavors (like banana candy) dominated any malt complexity that may have existed. Alcohol was hidden well. A syrupy banana brew, and nothing more. It is my final absolution to never drink this again.
Tried
from Can
on 24 Dec 2003
at 15:17
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
2003 draughtBrown and very muddy/hazy. Has some greys and some darker yellows. No head but decent lacing. Was surprised how well they did this one. Reminded me alot of Traquair House ale. Dark berrys and some brown sugar in the nose, touch of alcohol. Good slightly vinous malt, alcohol presence adds to flavor. Texture was a bit more smooth than coarse and salty, as I would have preferred, but the flavor still held up well. Lots of earthy malt, medium sweet, with a good enough dose of lightly roasted malt to not be too sweet. This brewery seems to go light on the fuggles hops, which is too bad, they are there, but only slightly on the finish. Could benefit from some more. Medium body, very little carbonation, but still some problems with thinning as it warms.
Tried
on 25 Nov 2003
at 09:06
5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
Winter 2003 on tap. Light fruit aromas in the aroma - brown pear, sweet cherry, maybe some allspice. Pours an almost-translucent mahogany brown, some deeper reds in there as well. Begins with a lightly sweet fruity malt. Some clove makes itself known throughout the beer and the finish has a touch of mild hops. Texture is mainly smooth and watery, but some brown sugar graininess right away. Alcohol not detectable, moderately carbonated, very clean and sweet, but not challenging at all. Good if you are looking for a light, sweet, beer. Reminded me of a toned down Old Fezziweg. Almost no head, decent lacing.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Nov 2003
at 08:55
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
On tap winter 2003. Pours a very nice rich red-copper with some lighter toffee colors. Small beige-caramel head that disappears after a few minutes. Incredible amount of lacing. Aroma of slight citrus, strongly bitter, some drier malted barley, a tad muted. Begins with a medium sweet malt flavor and a big moderately coarse texture. This softens a bit and there is some fluffiness, rich buttery brown bread on the finish, but along with this is an ample dose of bitter hops that begins from first sip and slowly comes forth. On the very end of the beer and becoming more apparent as it warmed was a slightly sour, almost metallic taste, just ever so slightly present. Not sure exactly what it was, and it was subtle enough to not cause any big problems. Medium-full body, low carbonation. I agree, alcohol not detectable. As it warms, body lightens and the flavor that showcased hops wedded to malt seems to come undone somewhat.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Nov 2003
at 08:47
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Tap at dragonmead. Pours a dark brown but quite clear. Small oatmeal colored head that dissipates rapidly. Smells faintly of medium dark fruit, some caramel/roasted malt and a bit of salt. Begins very mild, lightly sweet and quite watery. Has a salty-sweet body with a tad bit of fuggles hops on the finish. Light bodied, low carbonation. Somewhat flowery. Not a whole lot going on. Smooth.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Nov 2003
at 08:32
5.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Light orange color, little head, not terribly cloudy. Aroma has lots of spice and a touch of malt. This is another heavily spiced pumpkin that concentrates more on spicing than it does on the rest of the beer. Has more body and slightly more malt profile than Buffalo Bills pumpkin, but still, the spicing makes for a dry almost astringent flavor, while there is little else to taste here than the spice.
Tried
on 30 Oct 2003
at 09:22
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
2003 on cask! Well this is certainly my first cask Imp. Stout. Great chocolate-coffee brown, with some darker grey/black notes. Dark brown/beige head, mostly lasting. Has a big sweet roasted malt aroma, with some medium dry coffee notes and a decent aroma of milder hops. Has a wonderful creamy palate and up front has alot of sweet caramel malt that shifts into a mildly bitter hops flavor as the beer finishes. Along the way there is some roasted malt flavor along with a coffee flavor that tastes more like a mocha latte. It’s so different drinking one of these on cask. Lighter body than I’m used to, nowhere near the Plato level of the popular Imperials. Still, a very drinkable beer, that has few problems. Body is only medium, which is the biggest problem, and this does not hold up the bittersweet malt/hops mix as well as a fuller beer would.
Tried
from Cask
on 30 Oct 2003
at 09:17
4.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Muddled and very cloudy straw yellow, very rapidly dissipating head, very pale. Aroma has a bit of malt and some sugary sweet smell and maybe a touch of coriander. Opens up dry, moderately carbonated and quite lacking of much flavor. The body gets very watery and thins out too much by the finish, which has a dry, light straw, watered down sugary flavor, with some mildly acidic lemon. Girlfriend didnt like, must not be a good witbier. . .another one of those wheats where it just tastes like you are chewing on alot of wheat and not much else.
Tried
on 30 Oct 2003
at 09:06