Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Draught at Marshall Wharf, 8/1/15.
Clear golden body has a good amount of moderately well-retained, white head atop.
Spicy, almost sprucey hops in the nose also reveal some very light tropical fruits (dry mango) and a good amount of juicy fullness. Sweet malts balance, or nearly overbalance and there’s a touch of alcohol to the nose.
Sweet, but with plentiful, balancing bitterness in the flavor. Woody-like hops, with a smattering of pine, oranges and some more lighthearted juicy fruits towards the end. Good, if a bit aggressive. Clean, ample carbonation with a full body and malty texture.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Draught at the outdoor bar, 3 Tides, Summer 2010.
Deep golden with some darker brassy tints about and a medium-high clarity. White head atop is small and shows moderate to low retention.
Dried yellow fruits in the nose combine with light vanilla and honey from the malts to balance out quite nicely in to not really a saison so much as just a golden, Belgian ale. Lots of peppery phenols are welcome, as well as lightly spicy hop notes and a touch of grassiness. No alcohol, nor flaws.
Straightforward Belgian blonde ale with light but evident hopping, a strong carbonation and slick, almost creamy texture; maltiness helping see to that. Thankfully free from banana/clove messiness, and while there’s light clove-like spice on the end, it’s just one small piece of the pie. A bit of sharpness on the finish, especially with some warming, but the fruitiness lingers on nicely as well, keeping things interesting. Had a couple of these that day and always hope for more Belgian golden types of beers from them.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at Marshall Wharf tap room, Summer 2014
Inky ebony with some lighter mahogany tints on the edges and a beige head that shows moderate retention. Good clarity, not transparent completley, but not overly hazy.
Berries, prunes, melanoidins and some salty toffee-like sweetness in the nose. Light notes of vanilla, touches of alcohol dryness and more phenols on the end. There’s an underlying smoky/char-like character that MacFindlay has; very subtle and is of course here too. Quite stiff and robust aroma, if somewhat heavy on the char/prune/alcohol dryness/astringency. Don’t get the kelp in the nose.
Flavor is immediately dry, with very dry melanoidins, some light astringent notes from either the yeast phenols, alcohol or both. Vanilla-extract, saltiness and finally some light caramel sweetness coming on the very end. With more warming, the heavy dryness/astringency lessens somewhat, with more maltiness emerging. The grassy element, present in many of their beers is here, however and keeps the sweetness from ever really gaining much traction. Soft, salty-smokey notes abound, as well as interesting alcohol/phenolic notes on the end too. Not sure if the kelp is apparent or what it tastes like, but perhaps it’s responsible for the light saltiness. Very much like MacFindlay, with a bit more complexity and yet a bit more astringency.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draught at 3 Tides, 7/18/15
Pitch black, ebony body is of undetermined clarity, with a tan head atop that is small and shows moderate retention.
My mom took a sip of this and I thought she was going to die, so I was prepared for a bitter, roasty, boozy ride. However, upon first sniff, I get only a minor note of rum/booze, mixed with rich caramel and raisin, growing towards a sweet (but not sugary) chocolate-cream finish. Very luxurious, finely extracted base malts and surprisingly not a roast monster. It tickles the nose and even with extended breathing/warming, dosent become too obnoxious with the alcohols. Could, perhaps, find a touch more complexity to the nose; as is, it’s mostly a rum raisin meets milk chocolate blend. I could see a bit more wood, prune and vanilla notes helping, though I suppose that would make for a different beer. No flaws in the nose.
The flavor outshines the aroma, which I always prefer, if one is going to be better than the other (I guess that’s pretty obvious). Where I was bracing myself for dry, roasty, bitter notes, alcohol and heavy dark chocolate/rum flavors, I find a soft, velvety, milk chocolate and buttercream flavored stout, with very little sign of alcohol, rum-based or otherwise. Very light coffee suggestions, a touch of vanilla and very light wood dryness are found through the middle, helping to balance. Yet for all the rich, malty goodness here, the beer isn’t terribly sweet. Really one of the best breweries around at extraction and attenuation (though I know stuff like Cant Dog and T2-R9 are on the sweeter side), it’s just amazing to have the silky, chocolate-laden malt notes glide down the throat and not end in a pile of sugar and syrup. Above average complexity and very reserved on the barrel character (both wood and rum), which is nice. Slight touches of alcohol grace the palate and seem pretty reasonable for 11.2. Awesome beer, could have easily had another, which is very rare for an Imperial Stout.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at 3 Tides, since debut, most recently on 7/18/15
Cloudy copper body has a very staunchly-retained, white head atop it.
Pretty wheaty aroma is dry, clean, watery (minerals) and finally yields clove and light banana. Malts are well-attenuated, adding only light white toast/crackers and just the slightest touch of honey/caramel. No alcohol or flaws.
Not tons of banana, but it’s definitely always in the background, while clove and spicy white pepper lead through the middle in to a bubble gum and light pale malt sugar finish. Medium carbonation for the style and a slick, watery, very drinkable texture. Not much to argue with here. Perhaps it’s not screaming with flavor, but it’s dry, balanced and yet well-malted enough. I suppose the aroma could stand to be a bit more lively/bright.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Ace Hole from Marshall Wharf Brewing Company 10 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Draught over the years, most recently at 3 Tides, 7/18/15
Darker copper-amber body is topped by an off-white head that shows low retention, fading to cover quickly. Clarity is high, with a very slight chill-haze.
Light orange, meyer lemon and bits of papaya and other juicy tropical fruits are faint, but pleasant, while caramel and/or crystal malts set in, adding light sweetness and stickiness. Clean yeast and no alcohol or flaws, with a good deal of bitterness but no resin. With warming, more caramel comes forth, with just a touch of buttercream and spicier, grapefruit-tinged hops.
Sweet up front, not horribly so, but with a light cherry note that is the house character of a lot of their ales. Ruby red grapefruit, melons and honey-caramel drizzled atop all are thrown about a lightly chewy body with pinches of light alcohol and a bitter, heavily grassy finish replete with more fruits (cherry, apple, orange, grapefruit). It’s fairly sweet, maybe a bit too much sharp grassiness, but otherwise the hop flavors are delicious and the chewy texture makes it much more of an IPA than pale ale. With the 6.5% abv, I’m not sure why they call it an APA, but it certainly dosent matter.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at 3 Tides, 7/17/15
Small snifter is a deep mahogany/ebony blend with a small tan head that sits at cover. Intdeterminable clarity, though I’d assume it’s pretty bright, as most all their beers are.
Big buttery sherry nose is pretty enjoyable. Sweet and creamy with a deep, liquorous heat at the very end. Light black pepper, toffee, some ash and lingering vanilla-butter cream. I wouldn’t really call it boozy, as the alcohol seems quite controlled and works with the malts to balance, in the absence of hops. No wood tannin/astringency and no flaws.
Flavor is oily, buttery, lightly tart and with a strong iodine-like smokiness through the middle, must be the peated malt. Ashy and yet supple malts dry out the finish, in coordination with the alcohol. It’s certainly stiff and lightly boozy, with the sherry loosening up the body quite a bit. Still, can’t deny the old ale behind it is deliciously well-brewed. Not really my type of beer, but for moderation’s sake, I’d rather sip on one of these as a nightcap than a Oloroso.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Cask (gravity) @ GBBF 2014, Great British Beer Festival, London Olympia, Hammersmith Road, London, England W14 8UX. [ As Marshall Wharf Illegal Ale-ien ].Clear medium golden color with a small off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, wheat, caramel, fudge, sweet toffee, moderate yeasty, flowers - nectar. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and light bitter with a long duration, nectar - flower, toffee - fudge. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is flat. [20140815]
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Pinchy from Marshall Wharf Brewing Company 10 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at 3 Tides, I believe since around 2012-2013 and onwards.
Pinchy pours a crystal malt-like amber-cherry, high clarity and with a yellow-beige head that is medium-sized and recedes slowly to cover.
Cereal grains, earthy/spicy E. European and/or English hop notes and a bit of sourdough all collide in the nose to impart a much fuller aroma than the abv would imply. May be a bit on the toasty/sour side, with less comforting sweet maltiness than usual for 3 Tides. No alcohol and perhaps a touch of diacetyl at times.
Moderate fruity esters (cherries, apples) attempt to brighten a very toasty sourdough-like malt character that dries the palate out considerably especially with help from the grassy, lightly spicy hops. A pinch of caramel and toffee could actually help improve the drinkability; as is, it drinks surprisingly slow and challengingly for a beer of its size. Some wateriness and lighter carbonation help it go down, ultimately and if you want something flavorful and interesting, but without the alcohol, this is certainly your beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at 3 Tides, since debut.
Think I’ve only had this once or twice. MW just has soooo many dark, mid-gravity, lightly smokey dark ales to choose from, even one as interesting as this gets lost in the shuffle. Like all of their dark ales, it pours with a moderately high to high clarity and the beige head recedes slowly to a ring.
Chocolate and hazelnut in the nose are dried out by light leafy, almost floral hoppiness and touches of roast and smoke phenol. No alcohol or flaws in the nose and much lighter than the Deep Purple.
The flavor of milk chocolate, caramel and dry, wood smoke all combine to produce the trademark rich and flavorful, yet well-attenuated maltiness this brewery does so well. Very little of the "grassiness" or "astringent roast" character that some of their scotch ales have. Medium bodied with a soft, mildly watery texture. Nuttiness and smoke linger, with traces of prune and espresso. As others have said, not your average brown ale, indeed.