1.8 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 6/20UPDATED: JAN 4, 2012 Bottle from Mane Liquor. Pretty crappy. Resembles a sour lager. Damn, not very appealing
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
330ml bottle from The Wine Emporium. Big fluffy head of foam that collapses quickly to leave an even layer of foam. Vibrant honey orange colour. Aromas of tropical fruit, apricot, peach and nectarine. Lively and zingy in the mouth with a fruit finish and big alcohol kick. Nice.
1 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 2/10 PALATE 1/5 OVERALL 2/20
2010 bottle. Terrible and undrinkable. Sour tangy flavor with an overpowering tartness that is undrinkable. There is a small sense of vineous flavor that is overpowered by the tarty fruity swank, and theoverpowering alcohol taste. One of the worst beers I have ever had.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
When the crown pops out, the aroma is pure mulled wine - more specifically hot ginger wine. Not too pleasant, to be honest. A bit nauseating. But as we poor the cloudy copper beer with a nice white head, the aromas become weaker, more of an old barn, musty, sileage type-of-thing. That’s what I wanted for this type of ale. Flavours are the same: sileage, old fruits in a barn, lots of cinammon, hay, some woody notes, all spicing the maltiness and the very elegant bitterness. Perfectly balanced and round, in spite of the complexity. Very seductive beer. Palate is broad and rather sour, a tad chalky, musty as well, keeping good awareness of yeast and even the hoppy fruitiness. I love it. Will get more for my "biere de la guarde" storage.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
There are two different types of this beer. The vintage and the more recent non vintage version. Score is for the non vintage as I think this is what this beer is going to be in the future.
Cloudy pour - careful of the sediment at the bottom (unless you like hefe’s!). Head was quite pronounced and a little coarse which is reflecting in the bead as it is not as soft and velvety as it could have been.
Having tried them side by side I would say the NV is more balanced and easier to drink. The vintage has a little bret which makes it interesting, but not very commercial.
3.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle from Star Grocery in Berkeley, CA. Pours dark, hazy amber with a creamy off-white or tan head. Aroma of dark pitted fruit, a little citrus and some spice. Med plus body. Flavor matches the aroma along with some roast malt underpinning. It’s good, fits the style, but there doesn’t seem to be enough yeast/spice to render it quite tasty. Good as is tho.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
hazy brown amber. Dried apricot, chocolates touch of brandy and yeasty nose. Slightly sour, funky dried apricots, bubblegum and chocolate. A bit all over the place, but very idosyncratic. Tart yeasty finish. Interesting
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle at Dispensary Enoteca. Nice strong ale, with interesting sour notes. Aromas of apple and grain. Taste is sweet and sour, with long length. Palate is velvety, and full bodied. Brown, with no head.
3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 13/20
Have you every been exposed to a work of art and while you can appreciate the amount of work that went into it, the final result just kind of leaves you cold. I think that’s what we have here. Lots of smooth, rich heavy flavors and aromas - maple, oak, molasses, honey, fig, that sort of thing - are in here. It just seems, I don’t know, uninspiring. It’s not you Ben Middlemiss Nota Bene, it’s me. Bottled in 2010, drank in Feb 2012.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Lots of malty sweetness. Nice clean aroma sublte sweet nose. Very enjoyable.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Beautifully malty with an impressive hop bite. Dark amber color, nice white head that’s not real thick but the lace hangs around for awhile. I just really like the hop forward profile of this abbey ale.
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