Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Bottle pour into nonic pint glass from Cigarette City. Aroma is lightly sweet fruity esters with yeast and vague metallic smell. Appearance is hazy pale yellow with nice sparkle, massive (5-finger width!) sudsy white head with decent retention (actually somewhat annoying), and sticky soapy lacing. Taste is lightly sweet (citrus?) mixed with some tart yeast, notes of fruit (some of it overly fermented) and the metallic taste in aroma. Palate is light bodied with thin texture, initial burst of effervescence but then average carbonation and dry finish. Overall, this may have been old but way too much carbonation and not enough flavor or aroma.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Can, undated, drunk 5/14/16.
Pours a clear, bronze-golden with a foamy white head atop showing average retention.
Pepper, floral/sharper herb notes in the nose are softened by angel food cake-like maltiness and light yeast minerality. No alcohol and while I fought with myself as to whether I was finding any butter, it was only just a hint at most and was probably just the malt character. Hops aren’t terribly fragrant, but they’re fresh and I do like that it’s not pine and citrus.
Soft, lightly malty texture with high carbonation, but not overly fizzy. Honey, white bread and black pepper with dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano-like character) making for a pretty good balance overall. Clean and with no alcohol. Could be more dry and the malt flavor a little more polished (it’s just a touch mushy-sweet), but it’s still clean and that’s probably the most important part.
Looking at the earlier (10 years old) ratings, it looks like they’ve come a long way and cleaned up their act, which is good.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Can from Bert’s Brilliantly clear tawny brown with a decent sized long lasting beige head. Caramel and earth dominate the nose with a light toffee rounding it out. Light fruity flavor with bit toffee caramel and earthy flavor. Sweet almost syrupy mouthfeel moderate carbonation. Not a bad beer, but certainly reminds me of what everyone sold in the mid 90’s.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
Treated as a witbier, this was poured into a mug.
The appearance was a semi-hazy to transparent bronzed golden color. A slim cap of a little white head that dissipated immediately. A moderate light sticky spider-web lacing clung to the glass.
The smell started off with a slight sharp crisp sweet apple running into a shy amount of tropical fruits.
The taste was mainly the same sweet flavor with a really low key amount of spices. Lingering fruity sweet aftertaste running into a sweet fruity finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. Carbonation runs super low. Sticky fruity notes cling to my tongue.
Overall, well, it was an okay witbier to me and an okay witbier for the style. No date on this bottle, wishing they would have dated this one as I’d only have again fresh.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottling date of 09/05/15.
This was poured into a pint glass.
The appearance was a nice looking hazy dark amber color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about a light minute. Semi-formal lacing represents around the glass.
The smell starts off with a rich roasty nutty to caramel to toffee character with subtle sticky pomme-like fruity notes. Light toast as well shows a light balance.
The taste was mainly malty sweet with the rich toasty effects running over the caramel, nuts, toffee and light fruits. A nice light sweet sticky caramel aftertaste runs into a wet sticky finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. Carbonation runs fairly light allowing the caramel and toast to really pull the stickiness along my tongue.
Overall, I say this was a pretty good Amber ale that I would have again.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Tap at America on Tap Saturday Deep golden color. bready caramel maltiness faint earthy citrus hoppiness and dripping with butterscotch. This one was horrible
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Keg pour at Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival. Aroma is grassy, hay--all hops. Appearance is golden brown without sparkle, poor head retention and mild lacing. Taste is medium bitter. Palate is average carbonation with a little bit of a zing. Overall, there’s no complexity here, this is as advertised--"hoppy from start to finish." Since I’m not a huge fan of this (perhaps I’ve learned that I don’t really like Cascade hops), this beer wasn’t for me. But, if you like this sort of thing, you’re going to love this beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
Keg pour at Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival. Aroma is strong, dominant caramel with some fruit and cereal malt. Appearance is dark brown (like root beer) with mild sparkle. Taste is quite sweet, but not overly so. Palate is medium bodied, average carbonation, has liquor in the finish. Overall, this is exactly as advertised with caramel and malt sweetness dominating. Definitely more of a dessert beer or specialty beer.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Keg pour at Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival. Aroma is rich chocolatey/cocoa with some smoke that is a little bit off (as a kid, I burned some bird droppings with a magnifying glass and it smells a little like that). Appearance is nice dark pour with effervescence reminiscent of a nitro, beige finger-width head and nice lacing. Taste is much like aroma--dominant chocolate/cocoa with that smoky flavor. Palate is medium bodied with creamy texture, average carbonation. Overall, much to like here but the slightly off smokiness is enough off putting that I would choose other oatmeal stouts ahead of it for sure.
