Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Dark brown pour. The aroma is of caramel malt and dark fruit. The flavor is very sweet with caramel, dark fruit, and a touch of booze but the alcohol is pretty buried. It's very good but for me fails to cross into great.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Can during the Hanukkah Party event on 12/12/2020.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

12th September 2020
Almost clear dark brown beer, small tan head. Smooth, soft and slightly viscous palate with a reasonable fine carbonation. Soft creamy dark malts, luxuriant. Soft creamy dark chocolate, a little smooth coffee, an almost bourbon finish. Dark chocolate ganache. Rich dark fruits. Smooth dark creamy chocolate finish. Pooh yeh, feels like I have caught this one just right. Smooth and rich and ripe but not overly so. Very quaffable. Well brewed, well aged. A symphony of rightness.
Earlier Rating: 10/28/2012 Total Score: 4
25th September 2012
The ChrisO small midweek tasting. Thanks to Colin for bringing one of my wants along to the tasting. Clear dark red - amber beer. Small pale tan head. A smooth viscous palate that is none the less quite light. Smooth BA malts, vanilla, toasted coconut, sweet dark malts. Coffee and smooth bourbon. Really well joined up and sumptuous treat amongst all the vinegar beers. Bit squiffy when I had this - must try again, but I really enjoyed this one.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

(650ml bottle from the LCBO ca 2013, their lab test sticker says 14.5%) Pours slightly murky dark cola brown with a small cream head. Notes of dark burnt caramel, toffee, light molasses, sweet bread, some chocolate, soft umami and oxidated nutty vibes from the age, spirit-soaked raisins, quite sweet through the middle of the sip before drying with toasty grains and some piney bittering hops and alcohol warmth. Medium-plus body despite hte age with fairly soft carbonation. An older bottle for sure but tough to tell whether it was at the end of its life or finally tamed into drinkability but either way it was a solid warmer.

A deep dark ale with a thin lacing dark brown head. In aroma, sweet caramel malt with dark fruits, licorice, chocolat, very nice. In mouth, a nice sweet chocolate malt with dark fruits, light peated notes, alcohol warmth, very nice. Bottle from Sept 2011.

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Pours dark brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of toasted nuts, ferrous malt. Taste has intense dark malt stone fruit and earthy notes. Palate has bitter hop vapors on the nose. Dense.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Deep dark brown coloured body with a caramel and soda glow without much head at all - a thin sliver of tan coats the top and fades quickly. Aroma of caramelised sugars, pitted fruits, yeast, apples, honey, syrup, alcohol (of course), figs, prunes and a dash of grainy malt, but the sweetness is by far the strongest. Full-bodied; Super rich syrupy, honey and molasses sweetness dominate with a large, sticky feel and a good dose of pitted fruits, stone fruits and an odd assortment of pears and apples. Aftertaste shows a ton more sugar with the syrup, honey and prune flavours the strongest, and a rich body. The lighter bitterness from the malt comes through and some of the alcohol is of course noticeable, but this feels like a very strong and super sweet mead more than a typical or traditional barley wine. There aren't any real tart notes here in this, perhaps the aging had something to do with that, but the body still remains (which usually dies down quite a bit) and the complexity is all around the syrup and sugars with a relatively straight-forward alcohol and malt prospect. Overall, a nice and very potent beer that shows the malt and alcohol surprisingly well - this feels around 12-13 per cent abv without hitting like a cloying, deep mess, which is a testament to Shmaltz and their higher alcohol beers. However, this is relatively one-dimensional with a syrupy kick without too much complexity, especially on the range from aroma ot finish. Still, a great beer to try and not a bad time to drink this, some 3+ years after purchase. I sampled this 65 cL bottle (why so big?!?!?!) purchased from Whole Foods in New York (Bowery/when the Beer section still remained!!!), New York on 20-January-2017 for US$13,99 sampled at home in Washington on 02-March-2020 (yes, 20:20 in 2020), three years after purchase.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

16 oz. Aroma is peach, apricot and hot peppers, as described; it's also kind of bready. Pours lightly hazy golden with a shit-ton of floaties in suspension underneath a two finger bone-white head with good retention. Taste is moderately sweet, lightly tart, moderately bitter with flavors like the aroma descriptors; a moderate pithy bitterness lingers in the finish. There's only the faintest hint of heat from the peppers, but the flavor is there. It's a bit worty. It's listed as a hazy IPA, but it doesn't have much in the way of the typical characteristics of the style. A little underwhelming, but not bad.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle shared in London - cheers to MadMitch! Pours deep brown with a creamy, beige head. Strong oxidation present, lots of rich dark malts, ash, burnt caramel. Full bodied, oily, with fine carbonation. Hot finish, lots more charred malts, toffee. A little scattered and knackered but novel in its way.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

LCRBM2: Blackcurrant aroma. Hoppy flavor with blackcurrant. Not very alcoholic. Pleasant.