6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
LCRBM2. Amber, beige head. Good grapefruit hop, sticky toffee malt and then very dry grapefruit hop finish.
Tried
on 18 Sep 2006
at 15:22
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
I swore I’d never give HeBrew beers another chance, but based on the ratings of this, I figured I’d give them one more go - Clear amber pour with soapy head - quite a sweet caramel and rye malt aroma, with cascade and amarillo hops taking a back seat, but still making their presence known - hops are most prominent up front, with the amarillo most noticable (which is fine with me) - sweetness comes on strong, and would be cloying were it not for the lasting hop bitterness - a tea-like herbal quality settles on top of that - rye is pretty prominent - not a bad effort for the standards of this brewer, but it is still a little over-sweet, and, like many of their beers, still tastes somewhat artifical and adjunct-laden - however, I’d still choose this beer if I had to drink one of theirs.
Tried
on 13 Sep 2006
at 22:02
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Murky red-brown body, thin ochre head. Aroma of toffee, chocolate, and biscuits, earthy and toasty with slight tartness. Biscuits with chocolate coating paired with earthy, bitter hops characterize the body. Notes of raisin, prune, and dusty sweet breads develop after a few sips. Nice complexity and smoothness.
Tried
on 12 Sep 2006
at 21:38
7.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Yellowish head, fast gone; colour as dark Armenian brandy. Soap, ginger, alcohol and old clothes in the nose. Old clothes again in the taste (I chew some regularily). Sweet, quite some alcohol and roasted malts. Brandy-ish MF, lactic and powerful, but not too imposing that it might be repulsive. Special one. A tad too much alcohol, but after all, one you’re glad to have had.
Tried
on 11 Sep 2006
at 00:44
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Huge yellowish head, clear; foxy-amber beer, clear. Coconut (Pinacolada?), caramel and very discreet hops. Warming up, I get almonds. In the taste again coconut, but here there’s hoppy bitterness that has but little aromatic components. A bit like bitter almonds, resin or even quinine. Adstringency is unmistakable. We agree that it has no rye character to speak of. Buried under all the alcohol and the rather raw hops? There’s a lot to say about this beer, but in all, it’s not anywhere bad. It’s surprisingly meek for a 10% ABV beer, which is a performance in itself.
Tried
on 07 Sep 2006
at 15:03
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
This is a beautiful beer to look at. First there is a tall column of thick, creamy off-white stickiness for a head that persists over a clear, light brown body. Sweet, very fruity aroma. Although the aroma is quite fruity, there is no distinct fruit variety noted. Sweet with an herbal, exotic touch in the finish. I still fail to recognize anything as pomegranate. This is the first Imperial Amber ale. Good body and hides the alcohol nicely.
Tried
on 04 Sep 2006
at 16:24
3.9/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 3
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
2006 bottle consumed on 8/20/06.
Ahhhhh! It makes me angry to even review the beer, much less drink it (which I didnt, I poured this DMS cocktail out).
Classic Saratoga appearance - initially full, fizzy head bolstered by copious amounts of hard, large bubbled carbonation. Head fizzles out, no lacing, no retention, no ring. Body is clear, filtered. Smells pasteurized, dead, full of DMS and stale malts. Soily, rotten, bland, metallic hops. Crude. Not complex in flavor, with sharp, aggressive, overcarbonation. Simply an abomination of the brewer’s art. How/Why this brewerey is able to put out stuff like this, side-by-side the Mendocino Winter Ales, is beyond me.
Ahhhhh! It makes me angry to even review the beer, much less drink it (which I didnt, I poured this DMS cocktail out).
Classic Saratoga appearance - initially full, fizzy head bolstered by copious amounts of hard, large bubbled carbonation. Head fizzles out, no lacing, no retention, no ring. Body is clear, filtered. Smells pasteurized, dead, full of DMS and stale malts. Soily, rotten, bland, metallic hops. Crude. Not complex in flavor, with sharp, aggressive, overcarbonation. Simply an abomination of the brewer’s art. How/Why this brewerey is able to put out stuff like this, side-by-side the Mendocino Winter Ales, is beyond me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Aug 2006
at 13:46
5.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Medium reddish copper with impressive lace - the subtle pomegranate mixes surprisingly well with the fruitier qualities of the hops and the prominent caramel malt (in both the aroma and flavor) - the other aspects of the flavor, however, are lacking such balance and quality - it tastes cheaply made and, as Silphium pointed out, additive-laden - seems like they added some sugary, artificial fruit syrup to the beer to thicken it up and make it more flavorful - just not very good.
Tried
on 13 Aug 2006
at 20:28
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
A quality beer but not my kind of IPA. Amber color. Powerful, herbal hop aroma. Flavor is also of strong herbal hops. Very dry overall, as well as bitter. Alcohol very well hidden. Good.
Tried
on 04 Aug 2006
at 20:43
4.2/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
Undated bottle, probably early-mid 2006, consumed on 8/3/06.
Fizzy head is light-beige and rapidly recedes to cover and ring, leaving no lacing. Deep, polished- brown-leather body is extremely filtered (clear) with big bubbles rising.
Light shoe polish and hay in the nose, combine with dry toffee and pasteurized yeast dustiness/staleness. Medium to medium-weak strength, with no alcohol apparent nor any hops, save for a light floral scent in the background. Chewy, chocolate graham crackers provide some very minimal relief from all of the dry, papery, hardness and it looks like I spoke to soon, as now I do get a whiff of alcohol (light).
Horribly fizzy, harsh carbonation delivers a nutty, woody, lightly oily flavor of dry chocolate, hay, light grains and some fleeting caramel sweetness. Acid of some sort, hangs about on the end, which in unison with the harsh texture and rather weak body, goes nowhere fast. Alcohol is mildly apparent again in the flavor. Some soft choco-caramel notes are the only saving grace. Some light meatiness and perhaps even some veggies on the end as well. Not terribly complex. Filtered, pasteurized, Olde Saratoga...what did you expect? Poured most down the drain.
Fizzy head is light-beige and rapidly recedes to cover and ring, leaving no lacing. Deep, polished- brown-leather body is extremely filtered (clear) with big bubbles rising.
Light shoe polish and hay in the nose, combine with dry toffee and pasteurized yeast dustiness/staleness. Medium to medium-weak strength, with no alcohol apparent nor any hops, save for a light floral scent in the background. Chewy, chocolate graham crackers provide some very minimal relief from all of the dry, papery, hardness and it looks like I spoke to soon, as now I do get a whiff of alcohol (light).
Horribly fizzy, harsh carbonation delivers a nutty, woody, lightly oily flavor of dry chocolate, hay, light grains and some fleeting caramel sweetness. Acid of some sort, hangs about on the end, which in unison with the harsh texture and rather weak body, goes nowhere fast. Alcohol is mildly apparent again in the flavor. Some soft choco-caramel notes are the only saving grace. Some light meatiness and perhaps even some veggies on the end as well. Not terribly complex. Filtered, pasteurized, Olde Saratoga...what did you expect? Poured most down the drain.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Aug 2006
at 20:17