Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4
2004 bomber. Ahh it’s been a while since my last drain pour. I kept trying this one and trying it, let it warm up but nothing seemed to work. Pours a copper gold color, mostly clear with a decent light beige head. Aroma is sharp and thick, tons of incredible lager yeast, rusty, soily and lightly sour. Flavor just didnt do it for me. It was like drinking spoiled milk mixed with spoiled apple juice (maybe not quite that bad). The lager yeast was all I tasted. There was some malt sweetness, but it didnt stand a chance against the huge yeast. Hops?? I couldnt find them. Maybe this had gone bad in shipment, but it didnt go bad in the refrigerator it was in. 7/3/2/2/5
Draught at Redbones on 3/23/06. Fortunatley this wasnt infected. Heavy munich malt and bock-like yeastiness chokes the palate at first, quite sour, grainy, with plenty of hard cereal-like malting. Lots of spoiled peaches. Really pushes the boundaries of what the palate (mine, anyways) can take. But the quality is there, and the unpast./unfilt. nature of the beer adds a fresh yeastiness and chewy texture that help keep it afloat. Light honey is drowned out by heavy munich malts moreso as it warms. Fruity, light in hops, just a sweaty, hay-like flavor. 7/3/6/3/11
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bomber Bottle. As advertised, a mix of stout and pale ale characteristics. Pours a nice, stoutlike creamy head. Odor is stoutish, too, but with the fruity characteristic of a pale ale. Taste predominates with stout notes; roasty and smoky. But the pale ale side contributes fruity esters, and some sherry and cherry notes. Its description would suggest a porter, but it's not quite one of those. Perhaps needs to be a style of its own.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Holidale from Berkshire Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
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.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle. Hazy light golden with some deeper maize colored tones. Smells of lots of grain/yeast, mildly sour with some dry barley on the aroma. Opens up moderately sweet but has a light buttery/hay flavored hops appeal. Light body. Low carbonation. Somewhat watery. Finish reminds me of a papery, flowery hops, with a touch of bitterness.
Lubiere (24459) reviewed Drayman's Porter from Berkshire Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Nice licorice nose with some chocolate malts. Pitch black. Thin in mouth with some chalky notes and moka coffee. Smooth bitterness at the end.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Muddy brownish orange. Super cloudy!!! Smells very enticing. Warm, thick banana nut bread smell. Sweet raisin pudding. I could go on for a while about the aroma. Small lacy white-tan head. Initially very malty with a strong caramel/cinnamon alcohol follow up. Almost like cinnamon raisin french toast, but not overly sweet. Mild and lightly bittersweet fruit flavors dance on the palette. I definitely agree that this beer goes well at the start and then just peters out. It gets watery towards the middle of the body, and then just dies from there. Thin with a touch of caramel cappucino in the finish, and then, almost nothing. . . Too bad, this beer definitely has potential. And I can't get over how good it smells. Definitely a unique effort here, but needs improvement. If they could make this thing good all the way through, I'd rate it much more highly. If you saw potential in this, try Ipswich Dark Ale, you will be impressed.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Holidale from Berkshire Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
Amber; aroma of sorbitol candy, oranges, earth, and pine. Strong malt - a somewhat one-dimensional malty barley wine. English style.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Drayman's Porter from Berkshire Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Black, hoppy, some chocolate malt, nuts, caramel. Well made.................