A golden amber ale with a thin big bubbled off white head. In aroma, a sweet vanilla fudge, with butterscotch and strawberry notes. In mouth, a rather light caramel malt with a bit of buttercotch, watery and buttery. Cask at Syracuse Real Ale Festival, Oct. 25 2009.

Location: Cask at Rattle 'N' Hum, 9/13/09, as "Flying Bison Inferno Pod Ale"
Part of the Gotham Cask Festival

Aroma: Light citrus and floral hop notes, touch of caramel
Appearance: Mostly clear orange color
Flavor: A little stronger then the nose, hops of front, malty backbone, hop finish
Palate: Medium body, decent mouthfeel, decently long duration
Overall Impression: Probably the most disappointing beer of the night for me. It was just a very average IPA, very little interesting going on here. Flavor was solid, but overall it was just a little too dull for my liking. I would certainly drink this one again, but it's not close to being a top level IPA.

Draught at the New York Wine and Culinary Center. Pale gold with some interesting lacing. Hugely fruity, ale-like nose, with lots of muscat. Grainy, sweet, fruity flavor. Bready, wiht cracker-like malt. Huge bitterness at the finish. Interesting and original, though a bit weird for a lager.

BCTC’09. Brewer said they used their Aviator Irish Red recipe as a base for this beer. Unfortunately, they make an amazing Irish Red and not such a special Flanders Red. Dark copper, dirty mahogany color, with not much red to it. Aroma is aceto, wet wood, and a sweet candied bark aspect, not as good as it sounds though. Right away you could tell the aceto is just not working in tandem with the other parts. Flavor is faintly acetic-like aceto, with that dirty cherry (which is good) and not much else. Needs a thicker malt backbone and in general it is a bit too allover the place. But still a doable sour.

Bouteille 12oz, courtoisie de Blankboy. De couleur cuivrée rouge et légèrement voilée. Nez de caramel sucré, moyen de houblon herbeux, léger d’alcool avec des notes de noix et de fruits (dates). Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture moyennement crémeuse et huileuse. Goût moyennement amer de houblon herbeux (herbe mouillée, présent toute la gorgée) accompagné d’un moyen goût de levures fruitées (notes de dates, traces de cerises et de pommes) ainsi que des traces de vanille lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté de caramel légèrement rôti (notes de toffee sucré) et moyen de biscuits parallèlement à un goût d’alcool réchauffant plutôt élevé jusqu’en finale, où l’on retrouve également un regain d’amertume de houblon légèrement plud herbeux aux notes terreuses et citriques ainsi que des petites notes asséchantes de noix. Post-goût long et un peu sec, moyennement amer d’alcool et de houblon herbeux, moyen de rôti et avec des notes fruitées (pelures de pommes) et des traces de noix.

Bottle drunk on 10/24/07
After a good run with American golden ales and lagers about a year ago, I havent had a good one in some time, so this was a pleasant and very unexpected surprise.
Lovely appearance definitely signals good things to come. Massive white head is wonderfully retained and shows moderate lacing. High clarity in this brilliant golden beer.
Freshly hopped with lemon and fresh, succulent herb and spice notes balancing the dry, but not overly attenuated maltiness that, while not incredibly complex, does still give an honest honey-dough-like character that is free from any stale or cereal-like qualities. Maybe a touch of waxiness or vanillin, but it’s minor and not really apparent in the flavor. Yeast is not apparent in the aroma, nor alcohol. Medium-high strength.
Superb flavor, with a crisp finish full of yeast and bristling with dry, grassy-herbal hop notes. Elevated carbonation levels keep it highly drinkable and help distribute the residual malt sweetness. Definitely a bit of lagering flaws, though they are very light. Some waxiness and corn-like notes build up, giving the feel of artificial sweetners, but the hops and yeast crispness are so delightfully, I feel they outweigh the flaws.

Thank you Rudolph. Pours black with a small head and w white halo lacing. Aroma is strong with what has come to be a standard American strong maltiness and alcohol (or what I like to rum cake). So it’s nicely rich but also alcoholic. Taste is also sweet with an oatmeal-like flavor which is offset by an equally strong alcoholic cherry and whiskey. A medium body with a really light aftertaste.
12oz bottle with a home printed label, Rodenbach Grand Cru smaller tulip glass.

From Rudolf. Pours such a dark red it may be considered black with barely any head. Aroma is stripped down, nothing. Slightly mineral, lightly medicinal, slightly burnt Irish Red-like malts with faint cherry-alcohol but really just empty and not much there. Taste is similarly empty soap-y alcohol cherry with some weird woody wet cardboard thing. The mouthfeel is empty yet weird on the cheeks with a medicinal aftertaste. I would have loved to love this because I like the regular version so much but this was a mess. 12oz bottle with the regular label but "Imp" hand written on the cap (check that Rudolf wrote it, otherwise you can’t tell the difference unless you taste it, then it’s evident), St. Paul snifter/tulip glass.

Draft-Mugs-Split Thy Skull-4 oz snifter. Excited to try but aroma was all weird off the bat. Smelled like cooked cabbage with a cherry/sherry alcoholic taste underneath that. Taste is nice enough with warming alcohol, some hop (grassy and sharp) bitterness. Color is dark copper with a lot of translucence, medium bitterness, and a slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Something is seriuosly off in the aroma.