On draught at the brewery with bucknaked on 8/11/2005. Golden body, slight rusty, maizeish tinge. Chill haze and a small white head, which, like all of the beers at this brewery, very quickly disperses, leaving a touch of bubbles on the edges. And again, true to the brewery, there is immense lacing in thick sheets, up and down the glass. Smells dry and floral, some pineapple and pale malt. All told, not tons of aroma. Light yeast dryness on the end as this is unfiltered. Flavor begins with a big amarillo hops fruitiness. Moderately dry on the end, with a low malt profile and a moderate acidity. Dry and flowery, very low sweetness. Dusty. Just a bit too much on the hops bitterness, for my liking, anyways. No real malt complexity. But not bad at all, just hop centered. Medium-light body, bitterness/acidity lingers.

On tap at the brewpub, 4/13/05. Dark, coffee brown (light bronze-copper highlights), hazy, with a small off-white head, poor retention, no lacing. Aroma of light chocolate and mild roast, with a hint of yeast and some notes of smoky fuggles. Flavor starts out with coffee roast flavors, moving in to a light chocolate and butter-cream flavor, still supported by some husky barley grain flavors. Light toffee finish with a watery, medium-light body and low carbonation. It dosent lack of flavor, though, IMHO and I found it to be immensely enjoyable and a wonderful session ale. Reminiscent of Ipswich’s Dark ale.

On draught 4/13/2005 at the brewpub. Dark brown with light hints of mahogany, seemingly opaque, with a small light tan head that recedes, slowly, to cover. Aroma of roast, nuts, light coffee hints and milk chocolate. Not all that pervasive, though the roast carries well enough. Flavor has more of the roast and milk chocolate, and fortunately, you can taste the lactose. It has a milky flavor, with sweet notes of light cream and vanilla. Dark chocolate notes on the finish and a gritty roasted, unmalted barley flavor, quite fresh, on the finish as well. The body brings the beer down, IMHO, with only a medium body to start, growing quite loose as it progresses. Lightly chewy, mostly smooth mouthfeel. No hops to be found.

On draught at the brewpub, 4/13/05. Dark bronze-copper-amber colored body, mostly clear, with a lasting light beige head. Aroma has notes of light earthiness and lager yeast, with some light toffee and chocolate and a bit of cookies. Flavor of even caramel/toffee with a hint of prunes on the finish, clean roastiness and a bit of sour yeastiness. Low hops apparency (a touch of fleeting bitterness), only a medium body, though not watery. It just seems so simple and clean. I’d like more yeast, more malt depth and some more spiciness. Very low carbonation, howver and it’s remarkably easy to drink. No alcohol apparency. Damn, dirtymike and I sure do rate very similarly.

On draught at the brewpub, 4/13/05. Light, lemon tinted pale-gold/white appearance, very hazy with a large amount of white head, moderate retention, high lacing. Aroma of light belgian aromatic malt, a hint of dry, biscuity graininess and some lightly juicy coriander and lemon notes. Slight amount of yeast. Flavor begins with a huge coriander flavor, some yeast peeking in, and a bit of light pale malt as a backbone. The mouthfeel is soapy and as the flavor progresses, some sharp alcohol or astringent spice notes invade and seem to ruin the flavor. A sweet and sour mix of malt and spices. Medium body is not overly prone to wateriness, but crisp, clean and well-executed, this is not.

On draught 4/13/05 at the brewpub. Smells great, looks great, tastes. . . .a little bit off. The aroma had me expecting alot. This one is brewed with Newport, Ahtanum and Amarillo hops. It’s tough not to like amarillo hops and they are so lovely in the nose. Plenty of foresty smell, without all of the drying bitterness. Some bready malts, a bit of light caramel and oranges. Looks a deep copper-gold, lightly hazy with a small white head, quickly receding to bubbly cover. Flavor begins with dry citrus hops, moderately bitter with plenty of yellow grapefruit, limes and oranges. Light caramel malt quickly vanishes amidst water and the dreaded alcohol apparency is present here on the end. Don’t know what causes it, but a lot of unfiltered IPAs seem to have this. A definite whiff of ethanol. Not horribly off-putting, but mix it with the watery finish and a little soap and things start to look pretty bad. It starts out so well, must need more malt. Almost seems lightly oxidized.

On draught at the brewery, 4/13/05. Hazy white-gold color, but still quite bright and pleasant looking. Large white head is slowly dissipating to cover, with plenty of lace. Smells of crisp yeast, fresh, floral hops and honey, with a hint of earthiness. Flavor, from the start, integrates the crisp lager yeast, pilsener malt and rustic hops well, with no wateriness and a good medium body. A touch of graininess on the end, mild astringency, but overall a true, if somewhat light, flavor. Some notes of saaz perhaps, with a touch of oranges. Mouthfeel is bubbly and sharp at times, but nothing out of style. I really enjoyed this one, yet it is such a challenging style to brew and even a well-made, enjoyable brew like this does not begin to measure up to the better examples of this style, IMHO.

On draught, 4/13/05 at the brewpub. Served in a tall pilsener glass, this beer appeared a deep copper-amber color, lightly hazy, with no head and large bubbles sitting on the sides of the glass. Aroma is strong and lasting, of sweet caramel and wonderfully fresh almonds, lightly dry wood, very aromatic and fresh vanilla beans with no hops. A little light on the yeast notes in the nose, is my only complaint thus far. Flavor is initially malty sweet, with caramel and almond flavored vanilla pudding. Lightly sticky toffee notes mix with a dry, and very sublime oakiness. Lack of a big Belgian yeast kick somewhat dampens the experience, but you could, perhaps, pass it off as just a low-yeast apparency version of the style. What did impress me, was the controlled use of barrel aging (well, chip aging actually). Subtle, but just noticeable enough to add a pleasant woodiness. I applaud the brewer for not getting carried away. On the finish, with the wood and almonds are notes of vanilla and perhaps nutmeg or cardamon or rye. A bit of a fruitiness on the finish as well, darker fruits though. Mouthfeel is a touch watery and the carbonation tickles the tongue. No alcohol or hops apparency. Fantastic effort. WIth a good deal more yeast, this stuff could attract a lot of attention.