4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle. Black colour wit large creamy light brown fully lasting head. Aroma is roasted malt and caramel. Sweet bitter flavor and bitter finish. Oily palate.
4.1 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
defintinly has a floral smell and taste. Good all round beer. I guess American Strong Ale fits this one good but the strong is well hidden because alcohol is matched well with the hops.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
This one was a real treat. Chocolate brown pour with a nice tight tan head. The hop aroma is very heavy here, which I love when combined with darker malts. Reminds me of something like the Black Sun from 3F. Anyway, the aroma is great and the flavor is as well. Very complex with bold hops, vanilla, molasses, smokiness and candied sugar. Very sweet, but the hops balance it out all the way through. Once again, it was nice to get my hands on a few of these. Big thanks to Bigsilky.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bomber. Barely can see through this deep brown beer with red highlights. Huge creamy and sticky head lasts forever. Aroma is big molasses malt and fruity hops. Flavor is similar with earthy-herb, fruity (Fuggles, maybe?) hops taming some spicy dark fruit and slight cocoa very well. Just a touch of alcohol rounds it all out nicely. The finish is bitter but not harsh; seems a bit Goldings or Saaz-like. Even some slight bubblegum in the aftertaste, like a Belgian. Palate feels smooth, oily and medium-large bodied, but not syrupy. Excellent experiment in what seems to be an American style barleywine with a flavor battle of the hops: American vs. European.
4.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle: Ruby amber in color with a two-finger tan head...sweet caramel, figs, raisins and dark malts rule the nose, no hop notes were present as I kinda expected. Very english barleywine-ish. Viscous, sticky body...again, sweet dark malts, bread dough and earthy esters are present in the flavor. This was quite good.
4.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
UPDATED: OCT 21, 2008 Bomber thanks to Steven. Pours a dark brown with a nice light brown head. The aroma is mostly sweet caramel and fruits. The initial judgment was that this beer is much like a good Belgian Strong Ale; dark fruit, sweet candy, some alcohol and nutty aspects. But, this beer really can change, and it show a strong bitter hops at times. Wow! I really liked this one. Perfectly balanced and so complex.
4.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Pours a dark ruby with a large tan head. Lots of grapefruit and pine in the nose, with a good bit of malts as well. Taste is similar with pepper thrown in along with a bit of burnt cherry and fish sauce. Not too thin, but not chewy. Very balanced with a nice long finish. Reminds me of sitting in front of a fire in the fall, with winter well on its way.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
2007 bottle from Eagle River Liquor in Fulton, IL. Pours a slightly hazy dark chocolate brown with and absoutely huge rocky tan head that lasts forever and just looks beautiful. Aroma is of lots of dark fruit, toffee, caramel, fresh taffy, a decent amount of floral and citrus hops and a hint of alcohol. Flavor is caramel, toffee, roast, lots and lots of candied dates, overripe banana, a little raisin, molasses, burnt sugar, and some pine and citrus hops. FInish is dried fruit, a belgian like yeastiness, and some nice citrus, bitter and maybe some herbal hops. Body is medium, rather slick and very clean, this brew hides 9.5% really well. I would love to compare this to a fresh bottle, I bet this is better.
|
