3.5 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
50cl bottle, batch #309, 2010 vintage, best by 09/2014. Pours mostly clear but quite dark, showing a deep copper brown body with a small, smooth head of khaki foam. Settling quickly to a swirly film, the foam leaves minimal, wet spots of lacing on the glass. Aromas are subdued, yet well balanced, showing basically like a malty brown ale. Roasted oats and dry cocoa are met with toasty chestnuts and a bit of attenuated caramel. There’s a touch of earthen hop character, but it’s mostly about dried and toasted malts. Flavors follow suit, mainly malty and brown, touching on cocoa, toast, roasted nuts, and perhaps a very faint hint of nutmeg for spicy bitterness. The palate is smooth and aerated, almost whipped at points, finishing with a long, increasingly dry mouthfeel. Moderate in weight, it goes down easy, yet carries enough body to satisfy. It’s a beautifully balanced and drinkable beer, but in the end it’s just not all that exciting. Nothing wrong with that though. Good stuff.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Dark burgundy brown with lots of yeast sediment in suspension, topped by a creamy tan head that lasts for a while leaving a thin lace. Sweet and sour aromas, with shy cranberry coming trough. Medium body, a slightly bit of sourness hits first with candied fruit and caramel following. Not a long finish, but enjoyable and very easy drinking. Nothing memorable but well done.
2.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 13/20
Decent taste. Very holiday tasting will keep you warm during the winter. Decent beer.
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
In short: A fruity, roasted, spicy and strangely tart dark ale. Approximate amalgam of stuff. Meh.
How: Bottle 500ml. Consumed approximately 10 months after bottling date, 4 years before expiration date
The look: Opaque dark purple-brown body topped by a medium beige head
In long: Nose has some red berries, a bit of chocolate, a bit of cardboard, tart tropical fruits. Taste has tart red fruits, roasted nuts, lemony acidity, roasted oats, some burnt caramel, burnt paper, a mild-medium spiciness. Body is a bit light and there a few too many little hard bubbles. This wasn’t a bad beer per say, but it wasn’t a fun beer to drink in a way that is hard to put into words. It was here and there and felt amateurish. One of those beer that feels like someone poured 3 different beers in your glass. Drinkable but not good, this is a beer I didn’t need to drink, from now on I will drink less by only drinking high quality beers, and if there is one thing you can count on me doing every day of my life, it is to plan on cutting down on my drinking tomorrow.
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
On tap at Man in the Moon, Stockholm, December 2011.
Dark brown with a small tan head. Rather sourish aroma and taste. Malt, licorice, dark chocolate and nuts. Also some notes of smoke and spices. Drinkable but a little to thin.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
My Bottom Line :
Toasted bread crusts, chocolate and berries are bothered by pickled undertones and tartness in this ever-so-slightly flawed brew.
Further Personal Perceptions :
-A creamy layer of foam covers the ruby-hued brown.
-Best-before date says it should last till 2014...
-The ample carbonation and healthy sugars (not lean, but not heavy either) make for a pleasant mouthfeel.
-Spiciness from the specialty malts gets overshadowed by the rising, misplaced tartness.
-Those malt flavors could truly be pleasant.
Bottle.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
500ml bottle, batch 315, dark mahogany color, with a big pillowy beige head, mild brown chocolate, cocoa powder, faint sweet, vinous fruity nose, with some brownie, light dark dried raisin, fig, date notes, and some mild molasses, yeasty, brown sugar accents in the aroma follows through on a meddium-bodied palate with a light sweet acidic, vinous, fruity, chocolatey, cocoa powder, mild coffeeish, dark dried fruit character of raisins, figs, dates, with a faint cappuccino, soft chewy roasted, toasted, caramel, biscuit malt, molasses, brown sugar undertone, leading towards a brown chocolate, sweet maltiness, vinous fruitiness finish.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle from last year. Nice head with good duration. Color is close to black. Aroma and taste are roast malt, caramel, nuts, fruity notes and hops.
2.7 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
Color lleugerament fosc. Notes de torrat, xocolata i especies en nas. Agradable i fàcil de beure. Lleugera. Potser li falta un punt de contundència.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
(50 cl, batch 315) Le liquide a une robe brune. La mousse beige se retire assez rapidement. Une fine dentelle décore le verre. Le nez présente des arômes très finement chocolatés avec la présence de parfums légèrement acidulés et fruités. On croirait sentir par moment les effluves d’un jus de canneberges. Le goût est plus ou moins intéressant: les flaveurs sèches de cacao en poudre rivalisent avec des touches de café et des touches cendrées qui finissent bien par surprendre les papilles. En bouche, le liquide a un corps moyen avec une effervescence modérée et une texture à la limite crémeuse. La finale se fait davantage sur des notes amères peu intenses de grains rôtis.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Bouteille de 500ml. Batch 315. Bière brune avec des reflets rouges, la mousse est beige. Le nez est de chocolat (vielle bière) avec des épices. La bouche est de chocolat, épices, elle est agréable mais il y a une certaine aigreur qui laisse présager que cette bière est vielle et sur le déclin.
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