Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Deep charcoal-brown body, thin off-white, dissipating head. Toasty aroma with notes of dark fruit. toasty, roasted malt body, a bit charred, with raisin and marshmallow. Inky body. Very smooth and quite well-balanced, although it’s not as "big" as many Baltic Porters, and perhaps not as flavor-dense. I’ll take silky smooth, however. Thanks Dan (jah noth) for the bottle!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7
A very dark brown beer - though not opaque, with a thin brown head. The aroma is sweet roasted with notes of caramel as well as slightly burnt notes. The flavor is sweet roasted with light notes of chocolate and coffee as well as slight hints of soy sauce, and a dry end. For a Porter the body is thin.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
22 oz bottle-pours a white head, color is light amber. Aroma is hops. Taste is hoppy, dry.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
A rather run of the mill beer by southampton standards - if I had to pick it out in a blind taste taste I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between this and most other IPAs - slightly citric aroma, somewhat acidic and bitter, but with a medium, bready malt center to round it out - finish is mostly hops (cascade, I think) and a hint of woodiness - pretty uninspired, but still quite drinkable - perhaps they are trying to grab a larger audience, but I doubt it
Earlier Rating: 6/5/2004 Total Score: 3.8
Pale golden? I’m wondering if I have a different beer here, because this stuff is quite dark, nearly amber in appearance - the tap that filled my growler had this beer’s name on it, so this must be the stuff - nice lacework here - aroma of yeast and toasted bread - this tastes much more like an English IPA than an American one - lower in the hops than expected, but has a wonderfully tasty balance of medium bodied maltiness and some dry, spicy hops - toasty, with some very biscuit and bread-like flavors - very tasty, but a West Coast style IPA?
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed India Pale Ale from Southampton Publick House 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Note: This is not for the Saratoga Springs version On draught at Publick House (MA, not NY), 9/27/2005. Pours a lightly hazy copper-amber with a small, but firm white head. Light lacing as the liquid recedes with very fine bubbles rising. Aroma of fresh, zesty, cut grass and dandelion greens, light ruby red grapefruit, bits of sweet caramel and honey, toasted grains and some lemon-orange juice. The malt is probably more in control than the hops, in the nose. There is a trace of fresh yeastiness, a bit of doughiness. Flavor begins with a wonderful, creamy sweet caramel malt, like fresh baked honey-white bread, doughy and warm. Hops are grassy and floral, more of the dandelion greens coming through, with a light pepperiness and finally some moderate citrus coming through on the end. But it dosent overpower or overbitter. Nor does it allow the malt to get too dominant. Ultra balanced and with a very fine, tight mouthfeel. Medium to medium-full body and terribly drinkable/quenching. Juicy fruits are lightly noted on the finish/aftertaste, with pale malt flavor done very well to balance. No trace of alcohol anywhere. This is the kind of beer that could get me back in to IPAs.
Harrisoni (26233) reviewed Saison from Southampton Publick House 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Bottle, St Albans Beer Festival 2005, however actually supplied by Duff via ClarkVV, so thanks to them both. Cloudy orange gold colour with lasting white head. Sour citric beer with floral yeasty notes. Gorgeous. Doesn’t try to do too much, but what it does, it does extremely well. Very well made.
Silphium (4308) reviewed Saison from Southampton Publick House 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Sampled at the Ohio Labor Day gathering, provided by me (via trade with somebody...). Light orange-yellow body, thin off-white to light cream head. Honeylike aroma, floral, with crackers, pepper, and spices. Light but strong (yes, the words I wrote on my ratings sheet) fruity body with a spicy bouquet of floral notes, rich but subtle at the same time (ah, that must have been what I was going for). Medium-bodied and fairly complex with a nectary finish. Reminded me a bit of the Cuvee des Fleurs but more subtle and not quite as good.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2005 bottle generously opened by Eyedrinkale on 8/19/05 and drank by me the next morning for breakfast. Thick, inky black-brown colored beer, highly unfiltered and still pours a lovely tan head, well-retained and full of lacing. Smells quite restrained, dosent blow you away with hops or coffeeish roasted malt. Light anise, spanish coffee, prunes, raisins and a light milk chocolate. A bit of dry, earthy yeast in there too, with dry peanut brittle and green hops (herbal-floral, with just a touch of minty bitterness). Pleasant but dosent make me jump out of my seat and scream. First thing I notice upon drinking it, is how soft, milky-smooth and drinkable it is. Oily, rich fudgey chocolate and light roastiness. Hops come out on the end, with a green bitterness and flavorful, leafy, almost fruity and lightly herbal (mint, wintergreen). Towards the bottom of the bottle, gets a bit gritty, which I love, due to how unfiltered it is. A bit dulled towards the bottom of the bottle too, no doubt from the sediment. Only light fruit flavors emerge in this one, much less than in most other popular examples of the style. I really like that this is not overdone with hops bitterness and has more than just roast and dark chocolate. It’s a refreshing and drinkable take on the style. As the flavors build up on the palate, light black coffee from the salty roast really get intriguing, adding a touch of smokiness. Alcohol is well-concealed throughout the entire bottle. Moderate carbonation, perhaps too much for my liking. It’s wonderful that it isn’t overdone, but just being not overdone does not a top50 beer make, in my book, anyways. Thanks again Mike.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Double Ice Bock from Southampton Publick House 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
2004 Vintage, bottle #10/100 big thanks to Eyedrinkale for sharing this.
Good lord, the picture to the left is worth 1,000 words. Just the most spectacular glowing ruby-auburn with magenta and amber highlights. Small, off-white/beige colored head is not extremely well-retained, but then, this is an 18% abv beer, so I’m just impressed it pours a head at all. Sediment is left on the bottom, and the beer is well unfiltered. Aroma of dry tofee, walnut paste, sherry of course, sticky caramel, buttercream, plum brandy and rich barley. Light hints of alcohol grace the nose, but it’s more a refined liquor sort of thing, not a raw ethanol. Taking a sip, or should I say, sinking my teeth in to it, I am greeted with the most succulent of malts. Thick, rich, caramel and toffee as far as the eye can see, with light raisins, vinous sherry notes and plenty of honey. Finishes with a dry, musty yeast, like peanut or walnut skins. Thick, chewy body is of course sweet, but not overly so. There’s something so divine and well-done about the malt flavor that it makes drinking this a real treat. Very low carbonation with a strong drying and yet warming sensation on the end. Such a little, unpretentious bottle and such a magnificent king among beers. . .I can’t even imagine how good this will be a number of years from now.
2006 Vintage Cracked this open Summer 08 to certainly less pleasure than the 04 vintage. Really lacking in complexity and sheer maltiness that made the 2004 so delicious. Some premature oxidation has set in, giving a rather dry, nutty, lightly crackery nose and finish. Still not bad, despite some obvious alcoholic tendencies, but it wouldn’t stand out in a blind tasting, I’m sure of that. 7/4/7/3/15 Score is an average of the two I’ve had.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
A hazy pale yellow beer with a disappearing white head. The aroma is sweet with notes of wheat and citrus - especially lemon. The flavor is sweet with notes of lemon and wheat. This reminds me a lot of drinking lemonade - very refreshing.