Orangey-amber colour. Very cloudy. Very fruity, juicy aroma with lemon, spices, banana. Very malty flavour with subtle banana. Yeasty, wheaty finish. Quite a full body. This appears to be Steamworks’ signature style, so hopefully they’ll do more weizenbier.

Dull, hazy light brown colour. A lot of cinnamon and nutmeg in the aroma alongside sugar pie and light molasses. Mass spice in this one -unbalanced. It seemed so much smoother at the GCBF, but that was late in the fest. This is just a big whack of nutmeg, with hints of ginger. Dull malt flavours.

Cloudy beige colour. Spicy aroma. Little coriander, some orange peel? Fairly estery yeast profile with hints of bubblegum as well. Orangey-peachy flavour, bubblegummy, lightly spicy (styrians, perhaps?). Balanced coriander. Dry finish, strange because it’s a fairly sweet beer most of the way. Fully yeasty character - too much so. That’s what happens when you use your witbier yeast to make a saison. Overall, like a mix of wit and hefeweizen, with the hops ramped up a bit. Fresh and enjoyable beer, if not especially saisonlike.

Hazy light amber, loose beige head.Perfumey citrus nose.Citrusy, with an underlying tone I can’t identify. Medium finish

Lightly hazy light amber colour. Apple juicy aroma with some light, stale hops. Moderate bitterness, lightly fruity. Flat body hurts. Somewhat woody. My guess is wormwood, because it has a punchier bitterness than any regular Steamworks beer, but I didn’t smell any additional hopping. I do not believe they brewed a special batch of anything because I was there last week and they’re running beyond capacity with just their current lineup. Plus, it would be pretty cheeky to do a wormwood beer after the Storm one at the last cask fest, but cut the dosage tenfold to make something drinkable. So that’s my theory and I look forward to hearing from Conrad on Monday as to what this really was.

Bright red colour. Slightly candyish raspberry aroma. Fruity, lively flavours, with a trace of alcohol for dryness. Tart, juicy finish. Not balanced, but it has good body and a very fresh raspberry character owing to the use of whole fruit.

Espresso Stout, on tap, rated May 26, 2007.
Had to unretire this one...I love doing that. Ebony colour all glossy and black. A bit more head would have given it the old perfect appearance score. Big beany coffee nose...not enough espresso richness for me. Malt sugars lingering in the background. On the palate there is quite a bit of malt sweetness, a touch of oiliness in the body, but the coffee flavour is harsh, vegetal. Apparently, this is going to need a year or two to settle that raw beaniness down. I still have a bottle of the original left, and hopefully this one found its way into a few bottles as well.

The Steamworks Grand, 2 years old, bottled, rated June 15, 2005
Rather black colour, but surprisingly not entirely so. Intense coffee aroma is slightly burnt, not particularly complex nor enticing but serviceable if you like coffee. Thick mouthfeel. Extremely smooth. Now we’re speaking English! Incredibly refined espresso flavours dominate with sweet dark malts, slightly nutty nuances and a smooth, sweet finish. Because they made it with espresso (1 shot per pint) it has none of the astringency or vegetal character associated with using beans. The bad news is that it’s 2 years old now. The good news - Conrad’s talked about making it again this fall. 6-3-8-4-16=3.7

Hazy amber,thin beige head.Nice grapefruit nose.Nice citrus profile with med strength lasting hop finish

It’s been two years and several batches since I last rated this. Hazy golden-copper colour with a loose thin head. Grapefruit aroma with slightly toasty malts, lemon and breadcrust. Very dry - malts are a shade thin up front, salvaged when the woody, grapefruity hops show up at the end. Basically the same brew.

original rating
Hazy copper-straw colour. Woody, toasty, citric aroam. A little thin, but moderate woody bitterness. Balanced, woody, quite tasty. 4-7-7-4-14 = 3.6

On tap at the brewpub

Muddy chestnut colour. Fruity-spicy aroma with banana and pear. Flavour starts with banana, moves to a little toasty, earthy maltiness then spicy (cinnamon, clove), pearlike finish. Light rye notes in the finish. Moderate body, well-balanced. Following on their Dunkelweizen of old, this is one style they do very well.