Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Hazy orange-amber. Earthy, woodsy, musty aroma. Yeasty, sourish. Notes of caramel malt, peaches, pears. Refined, not 100% to style, but few really good BdeG's are.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Grand Cru from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Re-rate: Cloudy amber. Aroma is strong - alcohol, celery, spicy, light hints of caramel. Sugary sweet, little bit caramelly. Complex but very sweet right now.
Original rating: Hazy amber. Aroma shows alcohol, pepper, caramel, toast and crackers. Hoppy, spicy taste backed by a full maltiness. Spices and hops are the feature of the finish. 7-3-7-4-14 = 3.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle #2:
Slightly hazy orange/copper colour with a great dense off-white aroma. Sweet spicey aroma. Thin-bodied; a bit sour to start, but finishes full and flavourful. A bit reminiscent of a flemish sour, but more flavourful. Overall, a good beer and worth trying...pretty much spot on to my first bottle. I sampled this beer at Joey_Capps' on 13-September-2003 in Hamilton, Ontario. Rating for this sample: 8,5,8,4,16.
Bottle #1:
Amber in colour, a generous off-white head and trillions of small bubbles rise from the bottom. Very strong yeastiness with clean aromas (coriander) and a bright sweet scent. Medium-bodied; Very carbonated, strong grassy hops in the taste as well as earthy, mushroomy and musty flavours last a long time. Aftertaste plentiful with yeast, wheat and a showing of a bit of hops and more crazy flavours: grass, metal and freshness. Alcohol is pretty noticeable, so is the carbonation, but both are very nice! Not anything wrong with this beer, definately a lot going on with it, which makes it even nicer to try it! Since this is my first Biere De Garde styled beer it's tough to say that is above average, but regardless it is pretty good and worth trying to find. I bought this 75 cL bottle at Beers of the World in Rochester, New York and sampled on 29-August-2003. Rating for this sample: 8,4,8,3,16.
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Grand Cru from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle #2:
Hazy orange/light amber colour. Very nice white head that lasts. very sweet, fruity and spicey aroma. Full-bodied; Coats the mouth nicely, shows good character all the way through. Aftertaste very spicey and sweet. A great beer, definately worthy! I sampled this beer at Joey_Capps' on 13-September-2003 in Hamilton, Ontario. Rating for this sample: 9,5,8,4,17.
Bottle #1:
Alright, here it is...rating number 500! I picked this one because every ranking aside from Silky was above a 4.0 and as soon as I enter my rating, it becomes a top 50 beer! 750 mL bottle, Orange label, cellar temperature. Crystal clear amber colour with hints of orange. A perfect frothy white head leaves the most exceptional lacing on the glass i've ever seen. Zillions of small bubbles rising from the bottom are very nice. When pouring the beer, bubbles come from the neck of the bottle, appearing similarly when pouring champagne. Smells of yeast, sugar, bread, spices and some alcohol. Very nice smelling, but I don't consider it to be perfect. Full-bodied; Yeastie, sugary, spicey (coriander perhaps, definately curacao--orange peel) and a bit of caramel (burnt sugar). A great mouthful, very pleasant taste and a sweet aftertaste, with lingering spices and somewhat yeastie. Truly a bottle that everyone should try! One of the best beers I've had in a long time, and very happy that it was #500 for me! I bought my 750 mL bottle at Beers of the World in Rochester, New York. Rating for this sample: 9,5,9,5,17
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Old Ale from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2002 Vintage: Copper colour, tan head. Sweet smell, definate hoppyness. Strong malt presence in the taste along with an adequate amount of hops. Musty flavours in the palate, some toffee as well. A pretty good 'Old Ale'! I had this one out of the same bottle with DougShoemaker given to us by Lyle Ostrow at Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York.
notalush (7339) reviewed Grand Cru from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
[rating adjustment - the last few vintages of this (2004-05) have been far more dry, tart, and cider-like, with distinct white wine characteristics - they’ve been good, but hardly worth my previous rating of 4.8] This beer is bloody brilliant - I must go along with Uglyradio and say this is the best american-made belgian I’ve ever had - yeasty, grassy, spicy aroma....very inviting - excellent lacing on the glass - the flavor is spicy to start, with the anise quite present, but then a subdued, wonderful, birthday cake-like sweetness rolls onto the tongue, striking a perfect balance with the spice and slight citrus qualities - sweetness stays on in the finish, but doesn’t over stay its welcome...it slowly melts away, making you long for another sip - another outstanding beer from Southampton.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Double Ice Bock from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Orange-amber. Still. Vibrant colour. Aroma is long on malts, plus vanilla, peach, pear, and a bit of alcohol. Smooth palate. Again with the long malts, toasted notes, peaches, hint of caramel. Quite sweet, with a little heat (the alcohol comes off a bit like alligator pepper). Unique and stylish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
The appearance is of a lightly hazy amber. Grapey, yeasty aroma. Slightly pithy, astringent bitterness. Some decent fruity flavours. Like the Stille Nacht Reserva, I had a tough time putting my finger on this beer. I just know I liked it…
notalush (7339) reviewed Saison from Southampton Publick House 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Pale gold with a slight copper tint - musty, cellared aroma, with earthy notes, and a slight alcohol presence - flavor is tart up front, with some mellow fruit flavor and sweetness making an appearance, mostly white grapes - this makes way for a slight alcohol flavor, tiny malt presence, and lots of earthy, grainy, grassy flavors leading into the crisp, slightly peppery finish, along with the reappearance of a slight tartness - quite a bit of hops in the finish as well - this is clean and quenching - great for a warm spring or summer evening.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
2003, 7 oz. bottle #52 of 100 - considering the nature of this beer, the Samichlaus and WWS comparisons are unavoidable - this beer is better than them in some respect, but worse in others - it has low carbonation and zero head as one would expect from such a high alcohol beer - the aroma is full of cinnimon, maple, caramel, toffee, and a sinus destroying alcohol burn - these elements seem to come back in the flavor in various stages - it begins mildly sweet, slight toffee, then the alcohol swells up on the tongue, along with a cinnimon flavor that mixes with the alcohol well - after that there is a caramel and long lingering maltiness that comes in to remind you that you are drinking a bock - this is sweet, but not to a cloying extent like many beers with such high alcohol - the alcohol is heavy, but not overly astringent, making this very much like a dessert liquor - some brandyish elements are noticible - this did, however, come off as underdeveloped, but it was, of course, a very young bottle - I think with some aging and mellowing this could be great.