Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Small yellowish rim over ruby-highlighted deepbrown beer. Vinous, liqueur-ish, brandy-like nose. Some roasted malts notes, a truckload of brandy/distilled notes, woody, oak, and, of course, specifically Bourbon. Immediately warming, vanilla and oak tinted taste, sweetened milk with brandy, raisins-smitten, and molasses, but the last blending in perfectly with fruity notes from all kinds of forbidden, exotic dark fruit. Rich, luxurious, viscous fluid; alcoholexplosion in the throat. This is a "lager" - bottomfermenting for the pro’s. I know scores of original Doppelbocks, that ought to look here to know how it could be done (better). Many, many thanks to RodgerD for this series
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pours viscous dark-brown, cloudy, with no sign of a head. Again old brandy casks, but nice ones, or even, the storage room in the distillery, smelling la part des anges . Black chocolate, but no bitterness in the aroma. Superb rich brandy taste, cake, Christmas pudding, raisins, rum-soaked sultana’s, oranges pricked with cloves on brandy. Sweet, syrupy but NOT cloying. Rich, velvety, syrupy MF, alcohol (and fusel-)burn. Ah - this one is as I like them to be. Great, luxurious, decadent. My type - like the kind of woman I cannot afford.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
For the record: my bottle says 10.24%, silly, OK.! But it doesn’t call itself apple.For the rest, it is identical to the bottle in the pic. No head, hazy amber-brown beer. Very alcoholic nose, but in the way that an old, leaky barrel contains the rests, slightly spoiled drink. Not that it smells rotten, but it has a sourish, acidic edge, something not old, but too old. The aroma might be apple, to me it’s sourish - and chocolate. Again a sourish rounded, but then very good malt/alcohol/fusel/chocolate jumble of flavours. Alcoholburn, medium to well-bodied only. I’m sorry if I don’t make much sense, but this tastes as something that HAS been extremely good. But it are only the rests of the former glory.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Hoppy Ass Brown from Drake’s Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5
2006 bonus bottle from Stoutlover72 drunk on 3/8/07
My first bottle of Drakes. It’s been a long time coming. Fantastic appearance. One of those beers that initially looks like it’s going to pour a small, rapidly dissipating head, but then the head just keeps growing even after you’re finished pouring. Sloppy lacing all over the glass and very strong retention complete the picture. Head is a light coffee-brown atop a very dark tan body with some slight maroon-mahogany tints on the edges. Clarity is high with some light sediment left at the bottom of the bottle.
This was definitely one of the more unique beers I’ve had in terms of contrast between aroma and flavor. The aroma is dry, moderately bitter, floral and citric hops with a splash of pine tar, lightly juicy, but mostly crisp and dry. It leaves almost no trace of malt sweetness or even dark malts. Just a pinch of coffee aroma with warming, with a little bit of crusty brown bread. Definitely smells like an IPA and I wouldnt even guess the beer to be dark if I was smelling it blindly. Perhaps a bit too dry and leafy, overall, for my preferences. I’d like a bit more juiciness or fruitiness from the hops. But it’s still very sniffable and well-done.
Flavor. Wow, this is 180 degrees different than the aroma would suggest. Deep, deep, sumptuous maltiness for a brown ale. Rich chocolate, caramel and coffee notes all collect on the palate, with a very creamy, malty texture. Hops don’t dominate, yet are apparent enough in the flavor, without adding any overdone bitterness/acidity. Lightly juicy floral notes and some soft citrus tones all help add complexity and give it a distinctly West coast feel. Crunchy coffee and vanilla notes with just a slight bit of molasses dryness continue on the finish, with soft pale malt sugars lingering as well. If all Drakes beers are this well-malted and balanced in flavor, I’m in for a treat. No alcohol/flaws noted.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Huge tan-greige head, rather fast gone over black beer with a little red lining; Chocolate, coffee, capuccino, and a bit lactic sourness. Cacao, roasted grains, bit of coffee, which builds up and keeps haning around long, despite the sweet lactose. Quite full bodied, slick. A bit fit-into-the-mold, but certainly not bad. Thanks to brewer Rodger D. for supplying me the series!
Sloefmans (15519) reviewed Hop Salad from Drake’s Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Good yellowish head over clear red-ruby beer with an orange shine. Chocolate, cat’s pee (valerian), hops, cake. Rich cakey taste with lots of malts - oh, and some hops, BTW. A bit of liquorice (not sweet) and quite liqueurish. Quite thick, oily texture, super slick. Slight burning MF. Heavy duty hops. Balance is, again, quite allright. Nice.
Sloefmans (15519) reviewed IPA from Drake’s Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Small but dense yellowish head, fast gone; unclear red-amber beer. Fresh hops, hopbales, orangezest, orangemarmalade, light brown tea (with orange blossom). Hops, bitter hops, very noble hops. Vegetable flavour and some cookie malt, sugar syrup traces. Long bitterish aftertaste, dry, and nearly dry-out effect. Medium bodied. Good IPA, not unbalanced, but it is a bit onedimensional.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Courtesy of Davecooks, another nip for my collection, thank you very much. Pours very dead with no head an no lacing just a few bubbles gather in a crescent around the glass. Color is very dark brown, very muddy looking. Aroma is strong with cigarette like or dirty smelling chocolate and boozy raisons. Some stingy ethanol burning my nostrils. Some decent malty biscuit hidden in all that. A good amount of ammonia. The hugeness of it is cool but it all just seems like this aroma is old and has emphysema, and while its still cool you’re like damn that’s nasty. Taste is thin with malty cardboard, alcohol which seems to come from bourbon. Basically, it taste like it’s about 5 years old. The carbonation is too low, the palate is thin and watery. Basically, seems like a dead and dying fish, nothing like the Brandy Barrel. My question is why dry hop with a whole lot of hops and then age it for 8 months in a barrel? I get no hops, its also not all that sweet, very low bitterness. Everything seems off balanced and mismatched. There is a lot to say but my momma told me if you got nothing nice to say...
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Label-less bottle with a J on the cap from Davecooks, thank you very much for the great hook up (as far as I understand this is done with the blessing of the brewer). This is a nice DIPA, right when the cap pops there is an aroma of yellow bittered grapefruit. There is a lack of hiss in the pop and little smoke in the neck. Pours with no head (I believe some downsides of the bottling, but its all cool). Color is dark copper mixed with orange, very muddy, just a bit of translucence but low clarity. The aroma is what I want from my bitter DIPAs. Its all yellow grapefruit and other citrus flavors. Followed by tea aromas. Its strong and I can smell the bitterness. Taste is similar but the tea flavors take a larger role, with citrus behind that. Also, just a bit of sweet malt presence in the taste. Bitterness is strong and lasts a while with strong citrus aftertaste.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Bottle, 11.1%. Sherry aroma, some soy. Very dark brown colour, no head. No carbonation, is that on purpose? The flavour is a little sour like white wine, and quite sweet. Very interesting beer, but I would have preferred a little carbonation and probably also some years of aging.