7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours dark brown with tan head. Nose and taste of bourbon barrel, charred oak, roasted chocolate, smoke, vanilla, burnt coffee, burnt toast and smoked cherry wood. Medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 May 2013
at 16:38
8.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Pours cloudy gold. White head. Nose and taste of citrus zest, ginger, pumpkin seed, soured persimmons, lemon and Brett. Medium body. Well balanced acidity.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 May 2013
at 20:32
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Aroma is surprisingly nice with some vinous notes along with citrus, faint ginger, some fruit and balanced phenolics. You can even pick up faint persimmon notes. A slight lactic character. Pours a cloudy yellow with hints of gold. Big, pillowy, white head with average retention. Light lacing. Flavor is similar to aroma but dominated more by lactic acid. Some citrus and fruitiness. Ginger, pumpkin and persimmon are all faint and secondary to the acidic notes. Some vinous oak notes in the finish. Finish is dry with light bitterness. As it warms the pumpkin and ginger become more noticeable. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with medium high carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall another surprisingly good beer from Almanac that was brewed at Hermitage. Surprisingly well balanced considering the variety of ingredients. If anything the spice and fruit were underutilized which is much better than heavy handed. I will say I wouldn't be surprised if the lactic acid came from a bottle rather than a bacteria. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
Tried
from Can
on 11 May 2013
at 22:09
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
wow! This is really good. Pours with a nice head. Golden yellow. Nose is funky Brett and lactic acid with ginger. Taste is sour. Sweet. Loads of pumpkin and grape skins. Nice!!
Tried
on 23 Apr 2013
at 18:09
5.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
Pours dark brown, 1 finger coffee head, nice lacing. Smokey, caramel, cheap chocolate and burnt oak on the nose. Sort of a brownie taste, bourbon is very strong and overpowering, not smooth, a very boozy strong ale and very smokey.
Tried
on 18 Apr 2013
at 17:11
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours a murky darkened shade of yellow, not quite orange. I think most of the murkiness is from sediment, so that might vary be a bit based on pour and bottle handling. It settles out to merely cloudy after a minute. Fizzy medium head. Dissipates to not much after a minute. Looks like a sour. Aroma is mostly a tart lemony note and white wine barrel flavors, though there is definitely some fruitiness. I like persimmons, and knowing they’re in the beer, I can pick them out, but it’s not exactly a descriptor that I jump to naturally. Mild and fresh ginger aroma. Happy to find that it doesn’t smell like a bad pumpkin pie. That bright, spicy ginger note is actually quite nice and much different than the ubiquitous ginger powder flavor of so many holiday ales. The white wine barrel contributes oak and a bright vinous flavor. Lots of fresh notes in the beer. This is one that lives up to their Farm To Barrel branding. The taste starts with firm acidity. Lots of fruitiness and oak through the middle, and the finish cleans things up with a zesty ginger bite. There’s a little muddiness of flavor right as things tail off, but it’s no big deal. Quite dry. Seems drier and tarter than my keg samples during SFBW, so that’s a nice surprise. Fizzy feel. Good pucker. Mild oak tannic quality. This is a very good sour. I’ve been pretty dubious of Almanac for awhile, but they seem to be taking steps in the right direction, and that’s great to see. More wine barrel sours, please.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Apr 2013
at 00:43
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours coffee black. It’s a very dark brown, lightening at the edges. Can’t really tell anything about clarity. No apparent murkiness, anyway. Small brown head. The bubbles dissipate relatively quickly. Lots of chocolate in the aroma along with a healthy dose of caramel malt and some pleasant roast. Good barrel character. I tend to like the more subdued, meshhed spirit aroma of partially barrel-aged beers. There’s some excellent vanilla and other bourbon notes. Lots of stone fruit bouncing around, as well. It blends into the stout and barrel flavors quite nicely, but there’s a background of plums, dates and molasses. A bit like a sweeter, more caramel than raisin quad. The sweet and fruity notes push the spirit flavor in the direction of quality, Jamaican rum. It smells like a blend of dark chocolate molten cake, bread pudding, bourbon and rum. Taste is pretty sweet, but the beer never gets cloying. There’s enough woodiness and roast bitterness to tame the sugar. Lots of caramel and fruit upfront. Fades into dark chocolate and roast. Then, settles into vanilla, warming booze, roast and a sorta minty hop flavor. Mouthfeel is smooth and full. This is probably my favorite Almanac beer, so far. It’s great to see them making strides with this beer and the two recent Farmer’s Reserve sours. I was getting a tad pessimistic about their beers, but I’m back on board with this one.
Tried
from Can
on 11 Apr 2013
at 23:48
5.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
Pours wall to wall black. Big, puffy, khaki head. The head foams up aggressively before settling into a thick blanket of fine foam. I’m mostly getting milk chocolate from the aroma, though some other aromas come in once I get used to it. At first blush, it legitimately smells like a dessert made with lots of milk chocolate. Big vanilla note, too. Smells very sweet. Hops provide a mix of floral and citrus and actually detract a bit from the aroma for me. I thought the chocolate seemed off, but the hops just add a funny twist. Still, it’s overall a nice smelling beer. On the other hand, the taste is oddly harsh and just seems like a mess of clashing flavors. A fairly bland citric hop bitterness dominates the beer. Unfortunately, the sweeter flavors are mostly just an over the top vanilla tone. The chocolate is way too weak, particularly after the promise of the aroma. Plus, it’s not a rich flavor, closer to baker’s chocolate than anything. Lingering hop and roast bitterness. Mouthfeel starts out way too effervescent, gets creamy before it just thins out too much. Generally, too thin, though. The carbonation is off, particularly for a porter. It just takes away from the flavors. I liked this one better on tap, so this bottle is fairly disappointing.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Apr 2013
at 23:00
6.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 7
Cloudy burnt orange. Citrus and pine on the nose. Spicy taste cottages and honey. Very thin mouthfeel.
Tried
on 08 Apr 2013
at 18:36
6.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Dark plum orange, minimal head. Earthy nose with some pine cones. Taste is earthy, rustic and not too bitter. Great balance but perhaps too much oak.
Tried
on 03 Apr 2013
at 13:47