Shared by Numenor at the 3rd Richmond Gathering. Orange body with a thin white head. Sweet citrus hops aroma. Sweet floral and citrus hops flavors with some light caramel hints.

Shared by Numenor at the 3rd Richmond Gathering. Clear mohogany color with a thin off-white head. Sweet floral hops aroma. Sweet citrus and floral hops flavor. Some hints of pepper.

Notes from last night. On tap at the Hop Devil Grill, poured into a pint glass. Pours is clear orange/copper but almost looks reddish in the candle light of the dark HDG. Aroma is very present - buttery, creamy, and hoppy (Simcoe?) of course. The taste is a bit of a let down versus the aroma. Too thin and watery. Just hops and bitterness gets in the way of the flavor.

Bottle from Lubière : Poured a dark color ale with a big foamy head with good retention. Aroma is quite strong with peat and bitter roasted malt. Taste is reminiscent of a mix between a scotch ale and a porter with a nice dose of peat that mix very well with roasted bitter malt with a nice sweet touch. Body is above average and medium level of alcohol makes it a beer I could enjoy often. Very nice beer that doesn’t seem to fall under a particular style.

Cloudy, bright orange body, thick buff head, strong carbonation. Heavy citrus hops in the nose, bitter, with sweet breads and caramel providing malt balance. Bitter, grapefruity hops flavor, sugared fruits, caramel, and toast. Alcohol is present but not dominant. Sharp and potent, full-bodied and rich. Very good.

12oz bottle poured into a wine glass. Pours see through orange-amber with a small head. The aroma is malty and sugary-sweet. Taste is kind of weird, seems like a weird spice. No alcohol present, a pretty light body as well. All taste fades away leaving a slightly sweet aftertaste. Not a bad beer overall, would never tell its this strong. In general, sweet.

Draught tulip at Sunset Grill on 4/27/06
Deep mix of mahogany and auburn, with some blackberry and blueberry pulp tints. Head is full and lasting, of a charred greyish color, creating spotty lacing. Clarity is high, though not overly so.
Light breadiness is apparent, initially, in the nose, though it is not terribly dry. Quickly adding to this is a short snappy hop bitterness that smells floral and almost lilac-like. It’s very perfumey, almost reminds me of Houblon chouffe, in the sense of the dry, perfumey, American hop bitterness and light yeastiness, but a bit of caramel creeps in and then chocolate shows itself, with the signature Ringwood mineral note showing up as well. Things get pretty crowded, with the yeast, hops and malt all apparent in their own right. Light roasted barley notes add vinousness, just the barest hint of prunes and earthiness, really. The perfumey/floral hop nose never really recedes, but is strong and lasting. The malts integrate well with the yeast, as it warms, producing sweet berry notes and dry toastiness.
The flavor imparts a soft, surprisingly supple maltiness right away, not overly sweet, but yet not too dry. A light caramel sweetness, balanced by a touch of toastiness provides a great background for the lightly fruity, but mostly floral hoppiness. Bitterness is very controlled, and though there is some minor sharpness/acidity on the end, I think this is more a product of light alcohol notes combining with the hop bitterness than just purely hop bitterness. Grape lollipop-like candy notes, with a passing note of hardness from some crystal malt and a light berryskin note on end linger on in the finish. Texture is smooth, rather balanced between hard and soft, while the carbonation is low to moderate. I wouldnt say it is screaming with hops, and comparing it side by side to a classic DIPA (Maharaja), it certainly dosent have as full and as bright a bouquet, but I think this one has a lot more going for it than just hop flavor.

Draught pint at Sunset Grill on 4/27/06
Dull bronze to creamsicle orange colored body is darker than the modern wit, though well in line with a traditional wit. Fully cloudy, with no carbonation apparent and absolutely no head or lacing.
Light fruitiness emanating from the liquid, some tangerines, peaches and apricots mostly, with some wheat dryness and low spice levels (just a touch of tanginess from the coriander and orange peel). Plenty of hard water/mineral-like notes from the yeast, somewhat weak overall and not exactly crisp. The malts are deeper and lightly toasty. Reminds me of apricot/marmalade atop toasted English muffins. The minerals give a hard edge to the end of the aroma, as well, that seems to dull the strength.
It begins very yeast driven, with plenty of mineral overtones. Some light tangerine and lemon nip at the tongue at first, with a fizzy carbonation that is strong at first and then fully passing, leaving the finish a bit soggy/wet. Wheat dryness seems a bit heavy, even for a wit, while the pale malts are rather sugary and simple, giving ample malt flavor, but not much complexity. Though the mineral-flavors add complexity, it dosent seem to mesh with dry coriander and citrus fruits. You gotta applaud these guys for sticking to their guns, but I just don’t see Ringwood yeast working for a witbier. Though it does remind me of Abbaye des Rocs’ Witbier, it has some toastiness, more sweetness and a touch of earthiness, with plenty of yeast nuance. The carbonation on draught really works against it though, this needs natural carbonation to give it a tighter mouthfeel. The looseness/wateriness on end only works against the stronger malts and flurry of yeast flavors. Some light diacetyl is present on the very end. The alcohol was listed at 7.1 but it is not notable in either flavor or aroma.
If they would release this in bottle conditioned bottles, I think it would be really successful.