Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
On draught 6/3/2005 at the brewpub with tiggmtl, Muzzlehatch and Bret Kuhnhenn. Copper-yellow with some darker amber tinges to it. Off-white head recedes to a ring, slight lacing. Honey and caramel in the nose with some baked brown bread. Good hops apparency in both the nose and flavor. Nice crisp, floral saaz hops, lightly bitter. Notes of peaches, earthiness from the yeast and plenty of hops flavor in the middle and end. Low carbonation, big bubbles though. Medium body, well-balanced and quite enjoyable. This style has grown on me quite a bit recently.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
On draught 6/3/2005 at the brewpub with tiggmtl, Muzzlehatch and Bret Kuhnhenn. Extremely auburn colored. Deep ruby highlights as well. Hazy. Still, with no carbonation and no head/lacing. Fruity and yeasty in the nose with caramel and chocolate notes. Melanoidins, says Bret. Flavor is chocolatey-sweet, vinous and has caramelized sugar undertones. Moderate carbonation on the palate. Dry caramel malt, concord grapes, chocolate graham crackers and biscuits. Heavy yeast retronasal. Medium body. This aint no maibock, but oh well.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
On draught 6/3/2005 at the brewpub with tiggmtl, Muzzlehatch and Bret Kuhnhenn. Deep orange-copper color, hazy with a small white head that recedes to cover with some lacing. Smells hoppy, noble hops that is, with light orange fruits; apricots, fresh peach pulp, nectarines. The hops are wonderfully apparent and lightly grassy and hay-like. Flavor of peaches, nectarines, apricts again, with fresh baked sourdough bread. Light chocolate caramel on the finish. No wateriness anywhere. Hops bitterness is evident, but controlled. Firm, but not aggressive carbonation and a medium-full body. Finishes with hops flavor and lightly sour yeast. Everything is melded well together, IMHO.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
On draught at the brewpub, 4/16/05 with MartinT and Olivier. Deep brown-black colored beer with an initial light tan head, that is mostly dissipating. Aroma of black malt, roast coffee, yeast, fuggles and dark chocolate. A hint of light molasses/brown sugar as well. Flavor begins with roast, light chocolate and lots of yeast. Hints of dark fruits from the barley and yeast. Body is medium, not overly watery, not overly thick. A bit of wood, Spanish coffee and more chocolate through the middle. Flavor is certainly strong, yet on the finish, a dry toffee, strong tobacco and bland yeast all mix together to create, on my palate, all of the joys of a cigarette dropped in my drink. I couldn’t finish this one, but happily traded Martin for his Cerny Hora (and then had another cerny hora, and then later threw up). Maybe I should stop rating Lamere a boire’s dark beers. I just don’t seem to get along with them.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
On draught at the brewpub, 4/16/05 with MartinT. Pour is a dark brown, mostly clear with a slight hint of deep, deep garnet on the edge. Beige head is large initially, but quickly dissipating to nothing. Smells of yeast. Musty, dusty and old, with dry chocolate, touches of pumpernickel bread and light tobacco. Some dark fruits begin the flavor, blackberries, prunes, dark cherries and then there is a light amount of roast, touches of light chocolate and almost a bit of graham cracker or something like that. I think that’s actually the dry chocolate playing with the fizzy carbonation and strong yeastiness. Medium body at best, rather watery as it warms. But interesting.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
ark golden lager with a thin white head. Malty aroma with notes of strawberries and light crisp hops. Crisp malt with wonderful fruity hops with notes of oranges. Nutty notes comes out nicely. Medium and balanced bodied.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
On draught at the brewpub, March 2005. Brownish-black body, my sample being not completely opaque, and having dark garnet highlights on the edges, with large bubbles rising and a fizzy beige head, mostly disipating. Aroma of dark berries, vinous notes, raisins, balsamic vinegar. All in all a definite bockiness as tiggmtl points out. The flavor, also bocky, is full of dark fruits, plums, light chocolate, a touch of oily roast and a bit of sugar. I swear I tasted grapes in there and the body was certainly nothing to write home about. I will say that I didnt taste the alcohol and it didnt have any highly bitter hops notes. Rather attenuated though. Maybe I just havent sampled the right Baltic porters, but it’s a far cry from Sinebrychoff or Zywiec or, dare I say, Barley John’s Dark Knight. Probably more traditional, but regardless, it was way too watery. Didnt seem like there was enough there. Ok, rant over, I’m putting this very high on my list of beers that I need to rerate.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
On draught at the brewpub, 3/5/05 with Muzzlehatch and tiggmtl. Poured out of a pitcher. A sparkling golden-yellow with light burnished copper tinges, quite lovely looking with plenty of white head and tons of lace. Smells of herbal, spicy hops and plenty of dough. Good yeast character, very perfumy, strong, peppery nose. Flavor opens up with strong hops notes. They certainly got every last ounce of bitterness out of those hops! Crisp to the extreme, very spicy and with a strong, honey and doughy malt to follow. Damn, this is very forceful with the hops bitterness, with tons of bite from the yeast. Awesome body on this one, didn’t find the thinning some have talked about. I actually thought this was too hoppy, but that was really my only complaint. Love the spicy, fiery, warming flavors. I’d go back for more of this in a second. Went very well with rabbit and spaetzle.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Sampled draught at the brewpub.
Very dark brown, small head. Roasty aroma with some raisins. Fairly sweet and medium bodied with notes of licorice and syrup. Salty bitter finish. In the lighter end of the spectrum for Baltic porters.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Sampled draught at the brewpub.
Black, small head. Roasty licorice aroma. Rather dry, soft and nicely hoppy- Notes of grass and citrus. Coffee and salt in a bitter finish.