2006 bottle consumed on 11/3/06
Even with a vigorous pour, it’s difficult to yield much head. Perhaps a half-finger in height, old-beige colored and rapidly fizzling to a ring. Glassy, brass-golden body has some light peach and lemon tints. Clarity is medium-high to high, with a very small amount of sediment left in the bottle. Bubbles rise listlessly in the liquid, little/no lacing is created.
Very warming, sharp and pungent nose displays very high fermentation temps (or whatever it is, something is generating very apparent, sharp, dry, peach, banana and nectarine esters, with plenty of raw alcohol). Clove and pepper phenols are apparent as well, though they begin to dissolve in to a sweet, candi sugar-meets thick honey blanket of sugariness. Either the hops are rather dusty/old smelling and something like saaz or there is a definite note of light veggies created by the yeast. One can’t be sure. The more it warms, the more the alcohol warms and the fruitiness runs rampant. Too much musty/spoiled veggie-like flavor on the very end, very meaty-like.
The flavor is both highly sweet but yet staunchly alcoholic and sharp on the end. Very little cohesion between the malt, alcohol and esters. Sugar additions seem rather apparent and add heat without body, allowing the beer to thin out on the end and become messy with sharp, somewhat acidic notes of esters and alcohol. Carbonation is too low, as well, or perhaps more accurately, too loose. Not engaging and tight at all, allowing too much sweetness up front and wateriness on the end. Bit of meatiness on the end, perhaps vegetal in nature. Alcoholic, overly estery/phenolic, too much residual sugar. It really strikes me as being not properly lagered, though it’s hard to believe that Dark Horse would be guilty of that. Whatever the case, there are compound problems.