4.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 3
Bottle at RBESG 2007. Woody, sweaty. Pretty bad actually. Attractive bottle and quite a few seemed to pick this up in Edinburgh.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2007
at 10:27
4/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
Bottled at RBESG ’07. Very dark brown, brief head. Roasty and phenolic. Medium bodied with a lemony tang. There’s notes of licorce and a whiff of smoke. The mouthfeel doesn’t hold up, so it ends up feeling thin. Finishes with low bitterness. I wanted so this beer to be good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2007
at 02:43
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Very small yellow-brown head, gone in seconds, over near black beer. Sweet, roasted coffee and liquorice, pipe tobacco and hints of cypress. Quite aromatic but quite sweet and a bit thin (already!). Sourish taste around dry ashes and dry coffee flavour. Strange sourness, bit lactic, bit fruity-acidic, more than just the roasted grains. Quite thin body, less than one would expect from a good porter. I don’t think this half bad. I just can’t escape the thought that the lucky acidity is not intended, and that it is really too thin. Hurray for my wife bringing this back from running marathons in faraway Minneapolis!
Tried
from Can
on 30 Oct 2006
at 14:33
4.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
Bottle from santa - pours like coke and is even less flavorful - tastes like cocoa diluted with some really hard water - nothing more to say, really - it’s way more fun to admire the bottle than to drink the beer inside.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Jul 2006
at 21:21
4.6/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Lot 131 bottle (assume 2006 brewing), consumed on 7/2/06.
Upon opening, before even getting the stuff decanted, the first thing I note is a strong sense of stale, dead beer, highly pasteurized. The roast comes on quickly from there, with heavy vinous and charred notes drying things out heavily, but I’m not able to shake the pasteurized smell.
The beer is heavily carbonated, with very large, boisterous bubbles sitting on the edges. Head is reduced to a ring almost immediately, though is a light tan before that. Body is highly filtered and dark brown with a burgundy tint. Medium-high clarity.
The nose further develops with light soy, a hint of smoke, some bittersweet chocolate-lactic notes and a touch of spanish coffee on the end. Medium in strength, slightly carbonic, very acidic, seemingly. But aside from the heavy roasted barley and chocolate malt dryness/vinousness, it dosent have much depth. Certainly not soothing or intriguing.
The flavor suffers terribly from the high filtration, heavy artificial carbonation and pasteurization. Watery on the end, with strong, biting carbonation. The roast is somewhat resilient, adding light chocolate, prunes and heavy roast, but it just gets lost amidst the thin body and seems in stark contrast to it. Upon warming, it further loosens and I begin to get peanut brittle/peanut skins on the end.
It’s a shame they felt the need to pasteurize and fiter this, the beer is well-brewed otherwise. No alcohol apparent.
Upon opening, before even getting the stuff decanted, the first thing I note is a strong sense of stale, dead beer, highly pasteurized. The roast comes on quickly from there, with heavy vinous and charred notes drying things out heavily, but I’m not able to shake the pasteurized smell.
The beer is heavily carbonated, with very large, boisterous bubbles sitting on the edges. Head is reduced to a ring almost immediately, though is a light tan before that. Body is highly filtered and dark brown with a burgundy tint. Medium-high clarity.
The nose further develops with light soy, a hint of smoke, some bittersweet chocolate-lactic notes and a touch of spanish coffee on the end. Medium in strength, slightly carbonic, very acidic, seemingly. But aside from the heavy roasted barley and chocolate malt dryness/vinousness, it dosent have much depth. Certainly not soothing or intriguing.
The flavor suffers terribly from the high filtration, heavy artificial carbonation and pasteurization. Watery on the end, with strong, biting carbonation. The roast is somewhat resilient, adding light chocolate, prunes and heavy roast, but it just gets lost amidst the thin body and seems in stark contrast to it. Upon warming, it further loosens and I begin to get peanut brittle/peanut skins on the end.
It’s a shame they felt the need to pasteurize and fiter this, the beer is well-brewed otherwise. No alcohol apparent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2006
at 15:29
4.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
Dark brown color. Some aroma of caramel, cardboard, dry wood. Very thin mouthfeel, really watery.
Tried
on 21 Apr 2006
at 11:05
3.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 2
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
(Bottle 50 cl) Dark brown with an orangey glow and a small, beige head. Very discreet aroma, perhaps a touch of roasted malt. Very thin and watery body. Starts somewhat smoked, vaguely coffeeish with some roasted malt, but it’s all gone in no time. No real hops. Quite unusual. 170406
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Apr 2006
at 15:39
5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Now this is a beutiful blue bottle - if it was the appearance of the bottle I had to rate - I’d give it 5! But since it is the beer when poured is a very dark brown beer with a slight red shine and only a rim of brown head along the side of the glass it only gets a 3. The aroma is very lightly roasted and the flavor is also lightly roasted combined with notes of wood, which leaves You with a very dry end. Besides the light nose and flavor, the body is thin. Give me more power.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Apr 2006
at 15:22
6.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Dark brown color with a small light brown head. Aroma of chocolate and nuts. Sweet nutty flavor with some light chocolate. Fairly watery consistency.
Tried
on 14 Apr 2006
at 18:31
5.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
OK, so you don’t have to be English to make a boring and watery brown ale! Pours a dark brown that is almost opaque, virtually no head and no effervescence. Aroma is forward with a bit of chocolate and coffee, and a touch of floral and spicy hops. Actually it’s not a bad aroma. Flavor is similar, with a stronger emphasis on the bittersweet chocolate. Lightly metallic. Quickly transitions into a bitter finish without a middle to carry the malts into the finish. Very watery palate, very lacking in carbonation, so it’s pretty dead in the mouth.
Tried
on 03 Apr 2006
at 10:04