Brown bottle, 660 ml, Old Stock V at Steve’s, savoured on January 19 2007; eye: golden, light effervescence, thin white head, clear; nose: coriander, malt, hops; mouth: nice bitterness, caramel, finale in coriander, fizzy, average body, rather thin FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 660 ml, Vieux Stock V chez Steve, savourée le 19 janvier 2007; oeil : dorée, légère effervescence, petite mousse blanche, fugace, claire; nez : coriandre, malt, houblon; bouche : belle amertume, caramel, finale en coriandre, pétillante, moyenne en bouche, plutôt mince

Ruby pink beer with no head, but still carbonated. Light notes of cherry and light maderization. In mouth, a thi malt with ghosts of cherry, not horrible, but way past its prime (which wasnt much to start with). Oxidation becomes appearent has beer warms up. Dégustation de Vieux Stock III, Oct. 13, 2006. Thanks GRM.

2006 bottle drunk on 8/27/06.
Heavily sedimented bottle, though leaving most behind, produces a dark bronze-iron color with very strong magenta and blood orange highlights. Very slight haziness to it and a large beige head that shows moderate retention and light lacing. Tiny bubbles course upwards in the liquid.
Sweet nose portrays a fair amount of bubble gum and cotton candy, with a moer dry, spiced side on the finish that is almost nutty, but I suppose must be dry coriander. Sweet fruits are laced throughout, extremely estery. Light powdered sugar and raw buckwheat grains soften things. Ends with a strong sense of vanilla and cotton candy again, perhaps some banana. Just phenomenally estery stuff.
Sweet in flavor as well, more bubble gum than probably is good for it, leading to a rather insipidly sweet flavor that adds minimally spicy coriander and white pepper notes. Some more banana esters and almost a cola-like note on the end, with more fluffy pale grains. Sort of reminds me of Silenrieux buckwheat ale in the soft, powdery, fluffy sweetness. The bubble gum and cotton candy, however, just seem a bit too much, and the heavy fruit esters further muddle things. Interesting and incedibly unique, without any thinning/wateriness and a very comfortable texture, but it just seems like they let this yeast go crazy and I don’t quite think this yeast needs to go crazy. No alcohol noted. Some livlier spice and more dryness with less esters would be beneficial to the drinkability.

2006 bottle consumed on 8/27/06.
Very frothy, foamy head, white in color, is retained fairly well atop a light golden colored body with a high clarity and light effervescence. Minimal/no lacing.
Lightly honeyish nose shows well-extracted pale malts, but dosent overwhelm with sweetness, nor is there any cheap corn-like sugariness. Very light hops are soft, floral and very clean, somewhat adding dryness, but the crisp, clean yeast and spring water finish is what really helps cap things off pleasantly. A light touch of straw-like maltiness and a touch of vanilla-cream sugar. Very cleanly brewed. Aroma strength is medium, somewhat cut by a fair amount of wateriness (as in the malts are fairly lean).
But the flavor comes together, being neither too thin/watery or bland/undermalted and yet not smacking of corn/rice/etc...Certainly dosent seem like cheap grains to me. Rather, I’m pretty impressed by the well-extracted honeyish malts that provide substance while drinking and really highlights, in contrast, the crisp, lager-yeast finish with soft, minimal, but somewhat flavorful grassy/floral hops. Carbonation is moderate, providing sufficient drinkability, while the texture has some wateriness, but nothing out-of-place for the style. No sign of alcohol, didnt detect any major brewing flaws.

2006 bottle partially consumed on 8/27/06.
Light copper, mostly blond-colored beer with a high clarity. Head is white and about two-fingers high, receding to cover, fairly steadily. Not much lacing, but the carbonation does not seem overly aggressive in the liquid.
Aroma shows a sweet, almost sourish pale malt. A touch adjuncty or mineral-like, though I wouldn’t think there to be adjuncts in here. Hops are noticeable, but very dusty, a bit skunky and a bit muddled overall, not fitting in well with the already sour-sweet, odd (for lack of a better term) malt aroma. No vanillin or creamed corn, no vegetal character, thankfully, so in that regard, it seems well-brewed, I just think the recipe needs some work.
Flavor confirms, as the grainy, slightly sour six-row-like flavor provides a moderately harsh note. Some sweetness arrives late, but it’s abrupt and almost syrupy. Hop bitterness is mild, while hop flavor is again dusty, old, very much like yellow/dying grass. In the end, too much of the souring effect, adding acid to the palate and not providing for a refreshing experience (the syrupy light-caramel notes do not help either). A cleaner, more crisp yeast and higher attenuation and probably some softer water would go over better here. Alcohol is not noted. Carbonation is moderate, wateriness is minimal.

Got this beer because of the crazy label (looks like a meteor hitting a man’s face) and was pleasantly surprised. Cheval Blanc beers tend to be very carbonated, which is a nice change from some of the flatter American beers. The color was a little darker and murkier than a true hefeweizen with a foamy white head. The initial flavor was spicy wheat, due to the buckwheat I’m sure. This beer was refreshing with a citrus finish.

Bottle: Poured a deep red color ale with a huge bubbly pinkish head with good retention. Aroma of blueberry is recognisable and quite enjoyable even though it may or may not include some syrup. Taste is very refreshing with some definite blueberry taste is there as well as traces of the witbier base (coriander?). I thought this was better then what I had in memory from the last time I drank this beer (5-6 year ago).

Blond color. Spicy aroma. Malty, some sweetness, Belgian yeast, well brewed, very much Belgian-like, no defects, balanced.