3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Pours a rich brown with some tan head that has decent retention. Aroma is molasses and dark fruits. There are also a lot of spiced cider notes. Flavor is more estery than the aroma and has a slight funk. Still a pretty decent beer.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
~Aroma of brown sugar and molasses with clove and cinnamon spices, dark bread and raisin.
~Pours a dark brown with lasting creamy off white head.
~Dark raisin bread flavor with molasses and earthy hoppy bitterness.
~Med full bodied with med CO2, lasting sweet finish with slight bitterness.
~I really enjoyed this one. Not over bearingly sweet or spicy like other winter spiced brews. This one is well balanced.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Pours dark brown with a medium tan head that left nice lacing. Aroma is caramel, spice and dark fruits. Taste is sweet and spicy. Medium bodied, alcohol is well hidden and sticky texture.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Can. Pours a dark brown with a smallish white head. Nose is roasty and malty without being overpowering. Taste is also malty and a little hoppy with some bitterness in there. Interesting...
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Pours deep amber-mahogany into the glass, with a fizzy eggshell head that leaves light lacing. The nose is of rotting Granny Smith apples, with some legume notes in there as well. Flavors are interesting, of earth, pine/spruce, dry pie spices, some dark cherry, peppering bitters and dry malt. The finish is a lingering, subtle bitter. The mouthfeel is semi-active with a medium body. Ok, I guess, but a lot going on here that doesn’t seem to pull "together" and unified. A bit sparse and "all over the place".
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Huge FDR fan so had to try the beer. Very spicy at beginning, but it mellows out about half way in. Nice to sip by the fire place on a cold December night.
3.4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Mahogany reddish-brown color... Light malt and toffee aroma... Flavor is fairly mild, notes of spices, cinnamon, light bitter finish... Very easy to drink, but not terribly original... Decent
---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
3.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
Poured from the can. Aroma of spice. Very malty, the head diminished quickly. The beer finishes really dry.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Artwork note: I almost want to keep this can/box. Really cool depiction of FDR by the fireplace! (DC nerd status revealed)
A: Darker than I thought. Looks like a light roast coffee would look in a clear glass coffee pot. Nice khaki head that poured HUGE. I have this DC Brau beer glass that is shaped like a beer can and is really conducive to creating big, foamy heads, but this is bigger than usual. Taking a while to pour it actually. Nice spider web lacing going down.
S: It smells kind of like the stuff in a pumpkin ale (minus the actual pumpkin meat which usually lacking in pumpkin beers anyway, ironically). Nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice with some figs and dark fruit.
T: Taste mimics the smell but not quite as strong. Not much more to add on the taste. Interestedly I don’t get much alcohol. A bit of sourness, a bit of bitterness on the finish.
M: More full-bodied than I thought it would be but still medium-bodied. It’s nice. Pretty clean finish.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
21st beers have no middle ground. They are either extremely good or horrible (watermelon ale and oyster stout) That said, I love the Fireside chat. Big spices, great flavor, wonderful aftertaste, really hits the spot after a Frisco overcast Decamber day. Have to admit, I really dig the marketing factor too. FDR was one helluva President and this beer honors him justly.
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