2004 Vintage:
Dark copper colour with a thinnish tan head. Aroma of oak, nuts and toffee. Light bodied and very mild for the taste. Sweet flavours roam the palate with very little else. Overall, a decent beer - very calming and not harsh at all. This beer was sampled after 3 years on the shelf. I would have enjoyed this sooner, if I was looking for the ’optimal time’. Rating for this sample: 7,3,7,3,13 2002 Vintage:
Dark copper colour with slight ruby highlights and a thin tan head. Aroma of alcohol, raisins, graham crackers and cardboard. Full-bodied; Sweet taste of caster sugar & raisins with plentifual. malt and some mild flavours. Aftertaste clean, especially for the style. Peach taste in the end...very nice after 1.5 years! A definate try if you can find this around :-). The beer was very subtle and aged extremely well...as I tasted about 1 or 2 % ABV, but found out that it was 11%! I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Chevy Chase Wine & Liquor in Washington, D.C. and sampled it on 20-December-2003. Rating for this sample: 7,5,9,5,17

Hazy orange. Good head whilst pouring - but gone in seconds. Overpowering coriander smell, nearly souplike. If Westcoast Imperial Pale Ale has an absolute overdose of American hops, this has a similar overdose of coriander - on the point of making it undrinkable. There is some carbonation but the whole beer gives a flat, unattenuated impression all the same. OK, I understand. Belgian brewers do use a lot of coriander - many times way too much. And in the best American style of "more is better", they dosed it accordingly. Ohmygod.

Better than I was expecting - mellow hops compliment a mild, sweet fruitiness (strawberries mostly) - medium bodied, a sipping summer beer.

Dark amber colour with predominant ruby highlights and a thin soapy tan head. Pleasant aroma of sweet pit fruit, raisins and caramel with the complexity of malt and other fruits. Heavy-bodied; Carbonated mouthful; Sweet inital taste, definately malty with the extra fruityness. Aftertaste bittered from the malt and left sweetened from the fruit and sugars. Overall, a good beer, nice and carbonated. I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Chevy Chase Wine & Liqours in Washington, D.C.

Hazy orange-amber; caramel aroma w/ dried apricot. Nuts, toffee, caramel in the palate. Slightly oxidized.

Alt that's a lager - depending on what you're getting at that's really no big thing. Glowing brick colour. Dripping hop nose. Fresh, complex rhythms like multigrain bread, wood, earth, nuts...stronger caramel in the palate, full body, halvah, earth and a very caramelly finish. Robust.

They must have put a heaping heling of smoked malts in this sucker - there is a big time smokey presence that reminds me of some of the Orkney products I've tried - I was extremely put off by it in those beers, but in this beer, after a while, the presence doesn't seem so extreme - as a bock, this is pretty tasty, and the smoked aspect, once it starts to grow on you, adds an interesting element to the beer - heavyweight certainly makes some unique beers, and this is yet another example of that.