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
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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
5.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
No, no, no. I admit this suffers a bit because it followed a delicious Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru, but, regardless of this unfortunate pairing, this is not a good beer. Clear orange-amber body, thin tight cream head with larger bubbles. Fruity, somewhat tart, but otherwise nondescript aroma. Medicinal sugar water body: Dimetapp, but I guess with pomegranate, syrupy, sugary, and eventually hollow. Does not taste fully fermented. Alcohol apparent but probably not as high as advertisted. Tastes additive-laden and cheap. Not recommended.
Tried
from Draft
on 29 Jul 2006
at 13:05
6.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
Loose bottle from Sam’s, Downers Gove. There’s pretty rich dark roast malt smell when opened and poured. Deep brown body under a thin but stable head. Taste is a bit medicinal, but it may be an older bottle. Dark and nutty otherwise, with a bit of molasses, coffee and sassafrass. Hops seem to be mostly American, although at times this tastes a little like a Young’s Old Nick. For a gimmick beer, this has some decent chracter, and can account for itself as a pretty good beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Jul 2006
at 21:58
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bomber. Brought this a few weeks ago to the HW Open House and the little of it I tried tasted was really good. However, thought I needed a better sample for a rating. Picked this bottle up about a week ago, cellared till about an hour ago. Maybe its not cold enough but I am really not feeling it as much as last time. You know these DIPA can just go down in a hurry. Aroma is all hop, mainly piney (Amarillo?). Main I loved it a few weeks ago but now its just so average. The taste is just hop dominated, nothing special or really discernable. Not a bitter heavy DIPA, which I like. Before I opened this up it was a shoe in for an over 4 score (pretty much what Dickinsonbeer had) but now its so different. Will a DIPA change this quickly or is it all in my head?
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Jul 2006
at 23:03
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bomber poured into a La Fin Du Monde glass. Fruit beer my ass - its a slightly fruity Double IPA. Copper colored with a smalle head that quickly dissipates. Aroma is all hop - Simcoe heavy with a subdued fuit aroma (I wouldnt say its pomegrante). Taste is similarly simcoe dominant - with that hop creaminess is gives off. Bitterness felt as well - not strong but present. I like the stuff this brewery (Jeremy) makes but this is an ok DIPA with some faint fruit spirit.
Tried
on 20 Jul 2006
at 21:51