Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Draught pint at RB Boston on 2/8/07
Very full buttercream-beige colored head sits atop a auburn-tinted-mahogany body with some brighter orange hues. High clarity, plentiful carbonation, light lacing.
Sweet crystal malts produce plenty of toffee and caramel notes in the nose, with a hard candy dryness and bits of buttercream and vanilla underneath. Malt seems to crowd out any fruitiness rather than complement it. Very clean, with a bit of spicy hop notes on the finish and a touch of bready dryness. Not too sweet though, but overall, only a moderate strength to the aroma. No alcohol perceived, no flaws.
Hard crystal malt texture gives it a snappy/crunchy finish, but some breadiness, lightly spicy hops and fair attenuation keep it from getting too sweet. Dry toffee and sweet caramel are about the extent, with perhaps, some vanilla and cherry notes. Alcohol well-controlled for its strength. Extremely clean, maybe they should have upped the fermentation temps just a little to get some more yeast playfulness and a bit higher attenuation. Medium carbonation, smooth texture.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4
Draught pint at Boston Location on 2/8/07
Deep-chestnut stained mahogany brown with garnet highlights and a medium-sized dark beige head that recedes slowly to partial cover and ring. Medium-high to high clarity, light lacing in blotches.
Brown sugar, molasses and melanoidins assault the nose heavily, with an eerily sweet-and-sour sauce sort of effect that combines with green, juicy, but rather earthy hops to produce a fairly authentic, if somewhat too sweet, scotch ale aroma. A light layer of banana and peach, probably the malts combining with some light esters, sits on the end, while sourdough breadiness and a moderate amount of acidity slowly build up. Medium strength of aroma, no alcohol.
Putridly sweet flavor goes much farther than the aroma suggests. Bret Kuhnhenn quickly remarked that the beer tasted worty and I thoroughly agree. It’s not a clean or even adjunct/candi sugar sweetness, not even too much malt. Just a lightly bittersweet, syrupy, unfermented wortiness with some lightly bitter, spicy and earthy hops mixed in. Acidity builds up heavily as does a strong breadiness that fights with the sweetness to attempt some balancing, but neither flavor is particularly enjoyable, the breadiness being too acidic and dull. Dark fruits and melanoidin-like flavors are engulfed in this mix. Slick, almost greasy mouthfeel with moderate carbonation and no alcohol noted in the flavor, aside from some moderate warming. Too worty, very difficult to drink.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
2004 draught @ BBF. Pale gold in color, with a thick syrupy like presence though. Pretty typical head formation and retention of a strong golden ale. Smells sweet, like there is a ton of residual sugar in this one, light pepery yeast and bit of alcohol. Flavor was pretty standard for the style. Fruity esters highly pronounced with a big sweet malt backbone and a fluffy mouthfeel. They could have used some more aggressive spicing to dry this one out, as it was a bit too sweet, but it was certainly well-made other than that.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
2004 draught (Boston). Dark brown with some light greyish tinges and a small beige head. Aroma of black malt, light chocolate and a hint of roast grains. Tastes pretty milky and chocolatey, with some coffee and roast, but otherwise fairly average and unadventurous. I did like the noticeably high amount of chocolate malt. Quite watery, but still has some chew to it. A bit chalky, with low carbonation and almost no bitterness.