Bottled, thanks cquiroga! Clear amber. Rich grapefruity hop aroma. Dryish well structured cookie malt lies underneath a thick blanket of grapefruity hops. A straight forward hop driven beer with lingering bitterness. Not very complex, but very good.

Draft. Nice rich amber/copper color with a light tan head. Big fruity (tropical, summer, citrus) aroma. Big fruity flavor with a little pine, earth, and backing malt. Lingering summer and stone fruit with some sweet caramel and earth. Very drinkable. Alcohol barely noticeable and only if you go looking for it. Very fruity. Good beer, but I’d love to see a bit more resiny pine in it -a lot of hop flavor that doesn’t always translate to a lot of bitterness. I love Rodger’s beers and hope he gets started with his next project soon, but I wouldn’t call this his best. Sorry to break up the love fest that seems to have broken out over this beer.

Bottle courtesy of SS: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a small dark brown foamy head with some good retention and some lacing. Aroma of pure dark chocolate with some light bitter hops is interesting. Taste is dominated by some strong dark chocolate notes with some subtle dry coffee notes and not as much hops as I was expecting from the aroma. Body is full with some low to medium carbonation and no alcohol could be detected.

Unsure of the age on the bottle, but I drank it on 7/11/07. Obviously 2004 or earlier. Bonus from Stoutlover72, I believe. Thanks!
Didnt realize this stuff was old when I had it, and I sure as hell couldnt tell. A triumphant tan head tops a clear, auburn-mahogany body. Retention and lacing are moderate to strong.
No sign of oxidation or alcohol or anything particularly undesirable in the nose. Still fresh and nutty, with hazelnuts, brown sugar, light melanoidins and a touch of soft smokiness all producing a grand complexity. Oily tobacco notes pepper the finish and some sweet toffee emerges with warming, further developing the complexity and giving more depth to the malts. No flaws.
I definitely sensed it in the nose, and it’s even more obvious in the flavor, but this isnt a typical scotch ale. More a mix of a brown ale, scotch ale and stout, with much more roastiness than you’d find in a scotch ale, sweeter chocolate and caramel malts and lacking the strong breadiness and melanoidin-like dryness on the finish. Alcohol is never felt, texture is smooth, not really creamy but not oily or hard either. Still ample carbonation creating a strong drinkability. A bit of nutttiness/blandness creeps in on the finish, but its minimal. Impressive for its age.

Bottled (5.9%) (thanks Stoutlover72). Hazy reddish brown colour with mediumsized creamy, thick, beige head. Aroma is malty as very as very sweet fruity. Flavour is surprisingy dry malty and toasted, also the fruity hops comes along making this a wellbalanced beer. Strong lemony notes in the aftertaste along with slight roast.

6 oz. bottle. Aroma of apple as the cap leaves the bottle. In the snifter alcohol is added. Deep amber color with a head that quickly filmed. Woody notes apparent as the liquid approaches the lips. Medium bodied. Moderately carbonated. Starts caramelly sweet, quickly followed by astringent oakiness. Some lacing appears in the snifter. The finish is oak, alcohol, and some bitter. Whether the bitter is from wood or hop is beyond me. I think another year in the barrel might have mellowed it. As is, it’s a bit harsh around the edges. Rough on the throat. All that being said, it is an interesting effort to contrast with flemish sour ales. More than one route to a particular goal.

6 oz. bottle at 10.37% on the front, but 11.1% in the fine print on the back. Arresting aroma. Alcohol and dark fruit. Wood. Molasses. Something that bites. No head. No fizz. A dark woody brown color. Vanilla as the snifter approaches the lips. Thin to medium bodied. Prune. Toffee. Heat. Sour at the back of the mouth. A bit harsh in the mouth. Overall it’s sweet, with not a great deal of hop presence. Just enough to tingle the mouth. A few swallows allow some bitter oak to surface. Also coffee. Maple (like Boston Beer’s Triple Bock in a mild way). Apparently more flavors arrive as it warms (or as the mouth adjusts). Very interesting stuff.