 grant (739), Martinez, California, USA
Feb 29, 2008
750 mL bottle left in my fridge by DYCSoccer17. Well, I got thirsty and caved, so I owe you one. :) Pours out a lightly hazy peachy color, dies down to a thin coating of creamy head. Aroma is malty (bread) with a light amount of roastiness. Lots of yeast character present here: light banana, some earthy herbs like sage and thyme. Flavor is sharp with high carbonation followed by a sort of indecisive maltiness. I can taste the grape influence, although if I didn’t know it was grapes, I would have thought it was honey. It’s an interesting complexity that is the best feature of this beer. Estery yeastiness pervades the flavor to a distracting degree. There is a light amount of sourness present. Finishes moderately bitter with a tacky mouthfeel from all of the yeast byproducts (weird way to describe this, but I’ve gotten it in belgian beers that I’ve made that fermented too high). Carbonation is extremely high, a little uncomfortably so. There are hints of goodness here, but it doesn’t come together for me.
nuplastikk (375), Maryland, USA
Jul 14, 2008 750ml corked bottle. Attractive, thick honey-gold color. Soft, sweet mellow aroma. The taste interplay between the grapes, yeast, malt, and hops is quite enjoyably complex. Honey mead notes, mild grape flavors as well. This is quite a beer, not unlike Midas Touch. Victoria has a lot more depth of character and subtlety to it. Top shelf stuff.
JohnnyJ (633), Reno, Nevada, USA
Jul 7, 2008 Pours a dark gold/orange with large white head. Fruit, biscuits, grain, banana, spice, sweet honey, wine grapes, citrus, and earthiness. Quite interesting with the grapes, but a little to much carbonation.
heemer77 (3609), North Liberty, Iowa, USA
Jun 30, 2008 On tap at the Maproom in Chicago. The body was dark gold with an off white head. The aroma was malty bread with some hints of funk. There was also a light floral character. The taste was sweet potatoes with a light tobacco finish. There was some cinnamon spice that came through as it warmed. Decent.
thedm (3405), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Jun 25, 2008 This corked and caged bottled brew from Indianapolis, IN poured a large sized head of foamy fine to medium sized white colored mostly diminishing bubbles that left behind a transparent typically carbonated yellow orange colored body. The aroma contained notes of grapes and malt. The mouth feel was smooth and only slightly tingly from start to finish. The flavor contained mild notes of malts and grapes with a slight acidic hop finish.
BlackDonald (696), On a beer trip all over the USA, California, USA
Jun 24, 2008 I was not sure what to expect here considering I hate Chardonnay. This was interesting, a beautiful glossy and radiant pour. Reminscent of a trippel, but the nose tells you otherwise, lots of buttery notes, a bit of vegetal earthiness, yeasty spice notes, rounded out by some sweet honey. The palate, has a bit of a sour tang, and a terribly uncomfortable acidity and overcarbonation. Not one of my favorites.
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