Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottled, thanks jjpm74! Very dark brown, beige creamy head. Oaky nose with an interesting touch of elderflowers. Sweet and softly malty with roasty malt and molasses. Bourbon brings flavour and warnming alcohol. The bitterness is low. Big, yet well balanced, although the sweetness is a bit much. Really good!
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
Bottle shared by Marcus. Aromas of plum, berry & other dark fruit. Opaque brown/black color with a tan ring. Vinous, woody, dark fruity, malty with a touch of coffee. The finish is vinous, and darkly fruity. No real heat at all. Arguably one of the better ales in our world.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle at RBSG08 on 08/02/2008. Cloudy dark bron body with a medium frothy light brown head. Spice, chocolate and molassas aroma. Big bourbon and molassas flavor with some caramel. Medium full body with moderate carbonation. 8/4/8/4/17-4.1 Bottle at the 2nd Richmond Industry Gathering. Dark black body with a creamy light brown head. Sweet rum soaked fruit aroma with some light caramel. Sweet slightly sour flavor with light rum soaked fruit. Very sweet. Full body with low carbonation. 9/5/8/4/17-4.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
Draught@Barcade, Brooklyn
Clear nutty brown color, small white head, lace. Nutty, hoppy aroma. Also flavor is quite similar: aromatic and nutty hops dominate the flavor. Starts a bit watery, then through pale malts it goes to hoppy finish. A ok.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draught@The Ginger Man, NYC as "Imperial IPA"
Dark amber color, small off-white head. Fruity, very strongly flowery hoppy nose. Fruity aromatic hoppy with balancing malts. Wow - this is an IIPA with all the hops and same time extremely drinkable. Finish is flowery and grassy. Good stuff.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Handbottle from mgumby10; Nose is flowery and piney hops, with some light caramelly undertones and a Listerine mouthwash like note; lightly hazy orange with a medium off-white head; flavor has light hop bitterness, caramel and a little pine.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
After the long wait I finally get to try this beer. I was first supposed to try this in the summer of 2007 on cask, did not happen. Then constant carbonation issues but I finally picked the bottles up at the brewery drinking it now, 7 months later. It pours with a beautiful medium sized strong head that slowly fades into a thick lacing. The beer is full of carbonation bubbles shooting through the darker golden body.. Clear enough to see the beautiful bubbles (the last pour is ridiculously full of sediment and other junk). Aroma is very apple for me, nice thick cider like apple with a Belgian airiness. No hoppiness felt , as I like it. Taste is lightly apple sweet, light booziness, light oak, and some Belgian dough sweetness. All very nicely melded. There is the faintest heat at the end of the flavor left at the back of the throat, giving it some heft. Otherwise, its actually very easy to drink, the alcohol does into get in the way and the beer melds nicely with the base tripel. It’s not as groundbreaking as I hoped for but came out damn nice anyway. The last pour has a lot of apple muskiness.
Capped green 750mL, Duvel large tulip glass.
Re-rate: 3 years later this went to shit. May have not been kept the best (heat) but I could not help it with constant moving. It had very low carbonation and has become cardboard. I will leave the original rating but this wold be around 3.1 on its own.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Do not know what took me so long to finally rate this beer. Either way every time I drink it I am always reminded how authentically non-East coast it is. It s a clear dark amber color with a small but sticky head. Aroma is strong tropical fruit hops with some present bitterness to offset the medium sweetness of the hops. Taste is nicely balanced with sweet and lightly bitter hoppiness. It has a medium body that is not sticky or overly aggressive on the cheeks. Makes this beer so easy to drink and yet get your hop fix. Seems to not have changed much since it was originally brewed (as opposed to some of the other brews)
Goblet pour on tap at Blind Tiger.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottled (thanks omhper!). Hazy yellow colour, small white head. Aroma is fruits, hops, yeast and some caramel & earth in a wellbalanced mix. Flavour is sour fruits, some wood and acidic notes. Some tropical fruits lurking in the background balancing it up to a refreshing brew.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Bottled, thanks kmweaver! Pours lively hazy pale yellow with brief fizzy head. The nose is tart and vinous. It’s dry, and citric with barnyard, grape and wood. Fresh and lively, complex and just wonderful. Has the qualities that makes it stand out even in the toughest crowd. A superb beer!