Subsidiaries
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
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.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jul 2007
at 01:23
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
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.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jul 2007
at 16:55
4.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
Bottled. Muddy pale amber, rich head. Light orangey papery nose. Sweet with bold and very spritxy mouthfeel. Plenty of cardboardy wheat malt, but very low on esters. Possibly an old bottle, but with note date on the bottle I can’t really tell.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jul 2007
at 02:31
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
A good lager. Sweet malt in the aroma and flavor. Some fruit, spiced heated apples and grapes. Brown color. I’m not so sure it is can be aged. Dark amber color.
Tried
from Can
on 03 Jul 2007
at 15:10
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottled (Thanks stoutlover72). Hazy orange colour, mediumsized white head. Aroma is zest, slight yeast and and slight acidicness Flavour is yeast, wheat, paper, fruits and some slight earth and spices. Refreshing, but the acidicness feels like it shouldn’t be there...
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Jul 2007
at 08:21
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
RBSG07. From 34 oz bottle. Pours muddy amberwith a light brown head. Aroma is malty/raisin sweet. Flavour is strong malty and raisins. Not overly sweet. Finish is sweet and strong.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Jun 2007
at 16:57
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
RBSG 2007 Grand Tasting. Hazy dark amber body with a small white head. Sweet caramel and molassas aroma. Sweet molassas and light caramel flavor.
Tried
on 28 Jun 2007
at 15:57
5.1/10
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Appearance 2
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Murky dull brown with no carbo. Looks like ass. Heady, appetizing aroma...well the apple brandy part is appetizing anyway. The apple brandy basically blurs out a somewhat oxidized-earthy-chewy old ale. Muddled character of way too old ale covered by a nice woody, appley, alcoholic note. The finish mixes chewy, caramelly sweetness with pleasant appley alcohol. The good elements are really good, but the lack of cohesion really hurts...it needs a malt base specifically geared to apple brandy aging in order to reach full potential. Thanks Mike!
Tried
on 24 Jun 2007
at 01:59
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Hazy dark amber colour. Toasty malts with big woody hops, hint of citrus. Rich heavy woody hops, toasty, caramelly malts...it’s a thick wall of earthiness. Big body, as ambers go. The thing is, a dark IPA can be a wonderful brew but only if there’s a sense of purpose to the way the malt character and hop character are combined.
Tried
from Can
on 24 Jun 2007
at 01:55
8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle drunk on 5/26/07
I’ll probably take some shit for this, but gotta call it as I taste it. First off, I am very biased against dark ipas, especially earthy/woody/bready malted ones. I like my IPAs as pale as they come. This just seemed muddled to me, with LOTS of malt apparency and rather papery/crystally/hard at that. Lots of iced tea character....To its credit, the hops are quite nice, being fruity and citric, but I could stand even more aromatics/flavor and less bitterness.
Dry, grainy texture, with only a moderate amount of caramel-like softness. Rather loose carbonation, creating some wateriness. No alcohol or flaws. I’d like to try it fresh on tap....
Rerate Bottle from Aspidites drunk on 11/3/07
Well so much for my previous rating. Obviously the bottle I had was not all that fresh. This one was, assumedly, and was nothing like that one. Absolutely charming simcoe (among others) nose shows lush mangoes and even moderate watermelon. Deep wintergreen lies in the background, with fresh, juicy grass and lime and lychee mixing together to give a bittersweetness that only fresh, liberally hopped West Coast IPAs can give. Malt, though not all pale, does not interfere, and seems nicely attenuated. Even though I opened it well chilled, I couldnt wait more than a few seconds before drinking some, the aroma being so tempting. No flaws or alcohol, high strength of aroma, without the overdone bitterness or pine resin that ruins so many.
Flavor is moderately bitter, mostly dry and leaves only light biscuity traces of malt. It seems, at first, a little underdeveloped in its maltiness, but frankly, I welcome the lack of sugariness or chewiness. Moderate carbonation and a growing caramel character as it warms, with more tropical and citrus fruits and a very hoppy, juicy finish, with delightful lime and melon retronasal. Also lacking is any dirty, bland or obtrusive yeastiness. This is a very clean beer. It’s a lovely sipper, though it needn’t necessarily be, because there’s no trace of alcohol, and the body is lighter and very drinkable. But the hop flavor is so well pronounced you need very little with each mouthfull. I’m trying desperately to wait for it to warm fully, but I just can’t stop drinking the stuff and don’t think I’m going to make it. Cheers to Drakes and Aspidites!!
I’ll probably take some shit for this, but gotta call it as I taste it. First off, I am very biased against dark ipas, especially earthy/woody/bready malted ones. I like my IPAs as pale as they come. This just seemed muddled to me, with LOTS of malt apparency and rather papery/crystally/hard at that. Lots of iced tea character....To its credit, the hops are quite nice, being fruity and citric, but I could stand even more aromatics/flavor and less bitterness.
Dry, grainy texture, with only a moderate amount of caramel-like softness. Rather loose carbonation, creating some wateriness. No alcohol or flaws. I’d like to try it fresh on tap....
Rerate Bottle from Aspidites drunk on 11/3/07
Well so much for my previous rating. Obviously the bottle I had was not all that fresh. This one was, assumedly, and was nothing like that one. Absolutely charming simcoe (among others) nose shows lush mangoes and even moderate watermelon. Deep wintergreen lies in the background, with fresh, juicy grass and lime and lychee mixing together to give a bittersweetness that only fresh, liberally hopped West Coast IPAs can give. Malt, though not all pale, does not interfere, and seems nicely attenuated. Even though I opened it well chilled, I couldnt wait more than a few seconds before drinking some, the aroma being so tempting. No flaws or alcohol, high strength of aroma, without the overdone bitterness or pine resin that ruins so many.
Flavor is moderately bitter, mostly dry and leaves only light biscuity traces of malt. It seems, at first, a little underdeveloped in its maltiness, but frankly, I welcome the lack of sugariness or chewiness. Moderate carbonation and a growing caramel character as it warms, with more tropical and citrus fruits and a very hoppy, juicy finish, with delightful lime and melon retronasal. Also lacking is any dirty, bland or obtrusive yeastiness. This is a very clean beer. It’s a lovely sipper, though it needn’t necessarily be, because there’s no trace of alcohol, and the body is lighter and very drinkable. But the hop flavor is so well pronounced you need very little with each mouthfull. I’m trying desperately to wait for it to warm fully, but I just can’t stop drinking the stuff and don’t think I’m going to make it. Cheers to Drakes and Aspidites!!
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jun 2007
at 16:55