Winter 03-04 bottle. Just pitch black. Some dark espresso/charcoal tinges on the edges. Opaque, bottle conditioned with a small, light tan creamy head. Smells of deep, dark prunes, figs and a moderate amount of malt (lightly chocolatey, some port wine hints). Lightly salty, a bit of bittersweet hops. Flavor is immediately big, thick and bold. Salty and malty, it has tons of dark fruit and malt. Medium sweet chocolate, vinous dark grape hints. Hops come out somewhat on the finish and there is a brief glimpse of bitterness, but it passes and the flavor lingers on in a lovely chocolatey/pruney way. I dont know how long they cellared this before releasing it, but it does not come off young for being just released. Balanced and no hints of thinning. This should age marvelously. Will hopefully develop some more interesting complexities, as it is a bit delinquent in that category. Wonderful example of the English style and superbly drinkable. 8/5/8/5/17
Winter 04-05 bottle Kind of disappointed here, this one grows less English this year. Lots more crystally, hard American malt feel to it, tons of caramel and definite American hops (though not overly bitter). My biggest complaint is that it loses the anise and black licorice that were so appealing in last year’s bottle. Gone is the port-wine like vinousness and in place is just another well-made ubiquitous American Barleywine. Too bad I sent my last 03 bottle to Denmark, hopefully Jacob likes it!. 7/5/7/4/14

A step up from the Wachussett Blueberry. Slightly malty taste with a sweeter blueberry flavor. Light bodied, fizzy. Decent, drinkable. Still, too much concentration on the blueberry aspect.

Dark dark chestnut brown. Very small off white head, rapidly disippating. Has a slight aroma of molasses and brown bread and some caramel malt. Opens up moderately sweet, brown sugar and honey. Body is quite thin, but as it warms the finish is wonderfully flavorful. Slight roast, touch of hops bitterness. Normally I wouldnt rate a beer this light too highly, but it has such a great flavor. Much better, thankfully, than Ipswich winter ale.

Contract brewed for Periwinkles in Essex, MA. Not sure if this is an APA or a blond ale and for that matter, not even sure if this is distinct from their other contract brewed ales. Need to call the brewery and find out. Alpha hops, slightly soapy, bitter, some malt, quite uneventful.

Cloudy beige-brown colour with a thin caramel head. Light caramel flan aroma, some earth, faint pear. Earthy flavour, with light cocoa, and a hint of roasty astrigency.

Pours a nice dark brown, with some lighter chestnut brown tones. Faint aroma, dry nutty, some coffee and malt. Very similar recipe to their porter and is basically just a toned down version with toffee/nut malt in place of the bigger chocolate. As body warms, is very mild and smooth. Dry hops flavor on the finish, mildly acidic, quite bitter. Good balance as usual from Ipswich. Could stand a good amount more flavor though to really make me want to drink this. I'll take the porter or the dark any time over this.

2003 bottleI was blown away that this was as dark as it is. Brown with some reddish tinges, not quite opaque. Yellowish-beige head that disappears rapidly. Good lacing. Aroma of light pumpkin pie spice and some bigger malt and hops spiciness. Begins with a smooth, moderately syrupy malt texture with some interwoven pumpkin spices. Quite sharp and spicey, but not overpowering. Beer has a medium body, fades somewhat as it warms, but the flavor has some complexity to it. A bit of raisiny alcohol. A hint of tobacco on the finish. Like an English Brown ale with pumpkin spice in it. One of the best pumpkin ales I’ve tried yet. Carbonation is very light. Still though, pumpkin is about 60% of the focus and beer only 40. I’d prefer a nice brown ale first, with some subtle pumpkin spice.7/4/7/3/15 2004 bottle Not nearly as good as I remember, but pumpkins are quite variable year to year, that’s for sure. More spice, not as dark and the biggest problem was a hugely noticeable charcoal/ash flavor on the end. Not roast, but charcoal, almost like tobacco leaf perhaps. 6/3/5/3/11

Darker brown, quite muddy with some brownish red tinges. Good amount of sediment floating around. Small off white head. Lots of lacing. Smells very unique. Coffee? Lots of moderately bitter hops flavor. This is unlike many other beers Ive had. Maybe has some blueberry but this is probably from the barley. Quite the mix of hops and malt. Almost like a coffee flavored IPA.