8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Tap at Spuyten Duyvil - extremely smooth and drinkable for a double IPA - the hops certainly pack a punch, but don’t destroy your palate like a lot of other west coast IIPAs - because of this, the fruity malt sweetness doesn’t have to be so powerful either, creating a great balance and drinkability.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Feb 2006
at 09:40
8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Courtesy of The_Beer_God. Hazy golden white color with a thick frothy white head. Spicy aroma with hints of lemon and candi sugar. Somewhat citrusy flavor with gentle spices.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Feb 2006
at 20:18
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Thanks to herbjones for the bottle - sparkling clear golden in color, with beautiful, thick white lace - lots of brett funkiness in the aroma, musty smells, oak and wine (of course) - champagne-like tartness starts things out - lots of funky, cheesy flavors from the brett - oak comes in big time, but the vinous character never makes a huge statement; it prefers to stay in the background - a little thin near the end - a nice, light, crisp ale - a welcome change for a barrel-aged ale.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Feb 2006
at 19:06
6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 6.5
Draught at the brewpub. Hazy amber. Striking grapefruity nose. Punishing soapy oily hops makes my tastebuds distort. The mouthfeel is fairly soft but the bitterness is relentless and inky. Hardcore IPA.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:22
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught at the brewpub. Very black with lasting creamy beige head. Strong espresso aroma. Medium dry with soft mouthfeel. An incredible amount of coffee flavour, notes of licorice. Salty bitter finish. Gentle, yet packed with flavour.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:15
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
Draught at the brewpub. Ruby colour. Yeasty cardamom aroma. Light-medium bodied. Fairly sweet and somewhat bready with firm mouthfeel. Lightly syrupy with low hop rate. Quite subtle.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:13
6.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Draught at the brewpub. Opaque black. Dry with clean mouthfeel. Vague notes of cardamom. Salty and pleasantly hoppy with a little bit of chocolate. Surprisingly light flavoured.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:11
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draught at the brewpub. Clear dark amber. Aroma of cocoa and cocktail cherries. Fairly dry and rather sofy with firm mouthfeel and above medium body. Light almond character. Rich flavours of orange and chocolate opens up when it warms, and the relative dryness makes them stand out. Salty finish.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:08
7.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught at the brewpub. Clear pale amber. Light acidic barnyrad aroma. Dryish with fairly clean mouthfeel. Citric and lively with some grassy hops. Has some similarities to good, dry cider. Not as complex as for instance Supplication, but still very good.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2006
at 03:05
8.6/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2005 hand bottled sample shared with SuIIy on 2/9/06.
The beer has lost nothing to hand-bottling and shipping, seemingly, pouring with a large amount of fairly dense, white head that leaves a mess of lace all about and is retained quite well. The body is a soft, vanilla wafer orange with a bit of ripe lemon skin. Small bubbles stick to the glass and rise reluctantly to bolster the head.
The nose has a crusty/crackery graininess that is supplanted with sweet honey and pale malts which, in turn, give way to the brett. Oh glorious brett! Quite pronounced, tart and playful, mingling easily with the grainy and sweet malts. Dosent provide the clarity and utter jaw-dropping brett aroma of Orval (or even Matilda) but then, I don’t think it aims to. Some light hoppiness, farmy and lightly floral comes in to play, though surprisingly, the aroma doesnt come off overly dry.
Taking a sip, I figure out why that is. The beer is very well-malted, sweet and fruity, though importantly, not doughy. A fair helping of brett gets things rolling and then one is treated to overripe fruits; tart-like notes of nectarines, peaches and pears. In the middle, I seem to find a smidgeon of diacetyl, just a hint of light buttercream or white pepper like dryness, but perhaps that is just my imagination. It certainly is nothing worth dwelling upon. The brett resumes and clears the palate, wiping the fruitiness away and nearly balancing the sweetness, while hops vibrancy (hay, cut grass, sweat) melts in to a sea of finely carbonated bubbles, quite tight and engaging. While the beer is quite sweet (relatively speaking), and less attenuated than Orval and Orval knock-offs, it is not doughy or overyeasted (with saccharomyces) by any means. Alcohol is no where to be found.
In other news, I seriously need to stop comparing every Belgian pale ale that has brett in it to Orval!
The beer has lost nothing to hand-bottling and shipping, seemingly, pouring with a large amount of fairly dense, white head that leaves a mess of lace all about and is retained quite well. The body is a soft, vanilla wafer orange with a bit of ripe lemon skin. Small bubbles stick to the glass and rise reluctantly to bolster the head.
The nose has a crusty/crackery graininess that is supplanted with sweet honey and pale malts which, in turn, give way to the brett. Oh glorious brett! Quite pronounced, tart and playful, mingling easily with the grainy and sweet malts. Dosent provide the clarity and utter jaw-dropping brett aroma of Orval (or even Matilda) but then, I don’t think it aims to. Some light hoppiness, farmy and lightly floral comes in to play, though surprisingly, the aroma doesnt come off overly dry.
Taking a sip, I figure out why that is. The beer is very well-malted, sweet and fruity, though importantly, not doughy. A fair helping of brett gets things rolling and then one is treated to overripe fruits; tart-like notes of nectarines, peaches and pears. In the middle, I seem to find a smidgeon of diacetyl, just a hint of light buttercream or white pepper like dryness, but perhaps that is just my imagination. It certainly is nothing worth dwelling upon. The brett resumes and clears the palate, wiping the fruitiness away and nearly balancing the sweetness, while hops vibrancy (hay, cut grass, sweat) melts in to a sea of finely carbonated bubbles, quite tight and engaging. While the beer is quite sweet (relatively speaking), and less attenuated than Orval and Orval knock-offs, it is not doughy or overyeasted (with saccharomyces) by any means. Alcohol is no where to be found.
In other news, I seriously need to stop comparing every Belgian pale ale that has brett in it to Orval!
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Feb 2006
at 16:17