7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle, 11C. Dark reddish brown with an inch of beige head that lasts and laces well. Aroma of chocolate and a melange of hops aromatics, mainly citrus-leaning, but also some spices. Creamy mouthfeel. Taste is sweet with toffee and burnt mocha, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, quite pungent juniper berries in a creepingly bitter finish. Weird and good - which I guess is what they’re going for. Would go well with game.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Dec 2011
at 05:10
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 8
Bottle. Black with a tan head that fades to a coat quickly then disappears. Aroma of molasses, whisky, vanilla, peat, licorice, wood. Really quite fizzy, medium bodied. Quite dry, with coffee, spices, and whisky notes as well as burnt toffee, dark berries, some peat. Finishing bitterness builds. Mouthfeel improves quite a bit after letting it sit for a while. Good enough to be slightly frustrating they haven’t quite got the bottling right yet. [3.5] Another, bought at the same time. Maybe the last had not come into condition? - but no. Semi gusher, crackling head settles to a tan half-inch for a while, then fizzes away. Mouthfeel again improves after a few swirls. Mostly same as above - no weird chitlins notes in this one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Dec 2011
at 04:11
7.3/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Murky reddish brown with a small light beige head. Aroma of tart plums, apples, brett, brown sugar. Slightly slippery mouthfeel. Lowish carbonation. Taste has plums and apples, a hint of chocolate, quite a lot of tartness that’s mellow until a bretty zing right at the end. Some salt there too. Quite complex and very refreshing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Dec 2011
at 02:59
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Pours murky brown with a small fading head.Nose shows pine, grapefruit and pineapple along with caramel. Also some booze, woody characters and faint cognac. The alcohol is a bit full on, the hops seem faded. Not too sure aging IPAs is the best idea.Flavours are malt focussed, lots of caramel and rich sweet malt. Also craploads of booze and woody cognac notes. The hops are there, mainly resinous pine, but not at the forefront. Again, the booze is a bit too full on and the cognac seems to clash with the other flavours.Body seems pretty thick.
Tried
on 20 Nov 2011
at 20:25
7.3/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. No pop at all when cap lifted. Murky amber, no head. Almost completely flat. Aroma of pine, kumquats, toffee, grapes. Taste has caramel, crackers, citrus and pine. Some grapes and alcohol which I guess is the cognac. Sweetness is brief and overtaken by firm bitterness with pine, kumquats and grapefruit. If they can get it into bottles successfully this probably would be good. Maybe I got unlucky with this bottle. [7 1 7 2 11 = 2.8] Brewer volunteered a replacement bottle. Thanks Josh. Murky brown with a creamy beige head. Aroma as before with some grapefruit too. Lowish carbonation, oily to creamy mouthfeel. Taste is cleaner than before but with much the same flavours. Lots going on but it’s not a jumble of flavours. Good. Probably should’ve averaged score pending another working bottle, but didn’t. [7 2 8 4 15 = 3.6]
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2011
at 04:45