6.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottled
Dark ruby, small creamy tanned head. Flowery hoppy nose. Bitter, dry, oaky flavor. Not very strong palate and quite carbonated mouthfeel. Dry aftertaste.
Dark ruby, small creamy tanned head. Flowery hoppy nose. Bitter, dry, oaky flavor. Not very strong palate and quite carbonated mouthfeel. Dry aftertaste.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 May 2005
at 03:36
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Cask conditioned at the 32nd Cambridge Beer Festival, gravity dispense. Dark reddish brown colour. Complex aroma of dark fruits, spices and oak, various woodwork, some chocolate. Flavour is spicy, oaky, malty, chocolate, there’s vinous qualities (old sherry, marsala). Nutty / dusty hops finish. A great beer!
Tried
from Cask
on 28 May 2005
at 15:16
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
The label references the land of blue skies and clear waters. Now, if it’s anything like the Land of Sky Blue Waters, you know I’m in for a treat here.
Very dark brown colour. No particular head. The aroma is of cheap chocolate - nasty corner store stuff - and oatcakes. At least the oat cakes I can vibe off. I haven’t had those in a while. I should buy some. The body is light for a stout, matching the gravity. There are the requisite hints of roast barley and greasy spoon post-clubber, pre-trucker coffee but mostly you get a lot of that plasticy ghetto chocolate - like Hershey or Toblerone or some nonsense like that - and more oats. It’s fairly sweet, which is fine for an oatmeal stout. There is a slight bit of brown sugar in the finish. But wait! There’s more. Once it gets a little warmer a big whisky note comes out. I know it’s fanciful - trendy even - to suggest whisky in a beer from Scotland, but I’ve consumed enough of the stuff to know it when I taste it. Sure, it’s not very peaty and you could argue it’s closer to Bushmills than anything Scottish, but you know what I mean. Anyway, this element and the cheap chocolate only halfway incorporate themselves into the rest of the beer, and the roast and coffee notes are kind of like the two geeks sitting off in the corner talking about Star Trek at the prom while everyone else is trying to score. There’s just not a lot of cohesion - the elements in this beer don’t want to hang out with one another. So while there are some good things going on here, on the whole I feel less impressed than I should be.
Very dark brown colour. No particular head. The aroma is of cheap chocolate - nasty corner store stuff - and oatcakes. At least the oat cakes I can vibe off. I haven’t had those in a while. I should buy some. The body is light for a stout, matching the gravity. There are the requisite hints of roast barley and greasy spoon post-clubber, pre-trucker coffee but mostly you get a lot of that plasticy ghetto chocolate - like Hershey or Toblerone or some nonsense like that - and more oats. It’s fairly sweet, which is fine for an oatmeal stout. There is a slight bit of brown sugar in the finish. But wait! There’s more. Once it gets a little warmer a big whisky note comes out. I know it’s fanciful - trendy even - to suggest whisky in a beer from Scotland, but I’ve consumed enough of the stuff to know it when I taste it. Sure, it’s not very peaty and you could argue it’s closer to Bushmills than anything Scottish, but you know what I mean. Anyway, this element and the cheap chocolate only halfway incorporate themselves into the rest of the beer, and the roast and coffee notes are kind of like the two geeks sitting off in the corner talking about Star Trek at the prom while everyone else is trying to score. There’s just not a lot of cohesion - the elements in this beer don’t want to hang out with one another. So while there are some good things going on here, on the whole I feel less impressed than I should be.
Tried
from Can
on 25 May 2005
at 03:27
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
(Bottle 50 cl) Not entirely black, this has a reddish tint. Very light and dry but not really bitter. Lovely aromatic and slightly smoked. A fresh easy-to-drink beer. 060305
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 May 2005
at 14:44
5.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
(Bottle 50 cl) Beautiful fully golden - almost bronze. Not much head though. Very aromatic from the hops with a pronounced bitterness. Another fine example of a low alcohol beer with lots of flavour. 161004
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 May 2005
at 04:28
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
(Bottle 50 cl) A beer that doesn’t promise too much - this is red indeed. Beautiful reddish brown, filtered with a small and vaguely light brown head. Very soft, almost sweetish with pronounced malty notes and a very limited bitterness. Some smoke in there too. Nice. 040904
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 May 2005
at 13:04
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
(Bottle 50 cl) Fully golden, clear beer with a rather high carbonation. The very good aroma-hops spices up a traditional bitter proving that also a low alcohol beer can contain a lot of flavour. Very hoppy. 090504
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 May 2005
at 11:38
5.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottled. Orange colour, mediumsized white head. Bitter citric aroma with some skunky notes. Weak maltish flavour with bitterish hoppy finish. Not that special in anyway. Rich carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Apr 2005
at 02:38
8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottled. Black opaque, big brownish foamy head, thick lacing. At first very roasted aroma, later a bit sweetish barley and malt. Rich carbonation for being a stout. Very bready flavour with hints of roast. Leaves mouth a bit sticky. Otherwise very good, but the carbonation ruins it
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Apr 2005
at 09:34
4.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Mmmmm, filtered and pasteurised, low alcohol, bottled, light stout. I should stop there, as you can probably see where this is going. But I won’t.
Let’s talk a little about pasteurisation and filtration.
Once upon a time, there lived a wonderfully roasty, fruity, chewy, thick-looking stout, who had magnificent complexity and plenty of soft, easygoing carbonation. Everything went together nicely, with a true fusion of flavors and zesty livliness. Then some brewers came along and decided they didnt want any more of that pesky complexity, and soft, engaging carbonation.
"Who needs a lively, interesting range of flavors!! Let’s pasteurise the hell out of this baby!"
And it was done. But not yet satisfied, they said
"Away with ye chewy, gritty, substantive texture and body. We’d rather have a watery, dull, thin one, with lots of sharp, artificial carbonation!!!"
And thus it was filtered.
Now, children, can anyone tell me the moral of the story?
Let’s talk a little about pasteurisation and filtration.
Once upon a time, there lived a wonderfully roasty, fruity, chewy, thick-looking stout, who had magnificent complexity and plenty of soft, easygoing carbonation. Everything went together nicely, with a true fusion of flavors and zesty livliness. Then some brewers came along and decided they didnt want any more of that pesky complexity, and soft, engaging carbonation.
"Who needs a lively, interesting range of flavors!! Let’s pasteurise the hell out of this baby!"
And it was done. But not yet satisfied, they said
"Away with ye chewy, gritty, substantive texture and body. We’d rather have a watery, dull, thin one, with lots of sharp, artificial carbonation!!!"
And thus it was filtered.
Now, children, can anyone tell me the moral of the story?
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Mar 2005
at 23:03