(22oz bottle) Foamy beige head atop clear copper/cola body. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel, some berry, light chocolate. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, roast/coffee, some chocolate, faint earthy. Smooth medium body. Seems more a porter than a red ale.

<i>Any first impressions?</i><br /> -Lofty foam laces around the deep ruby brown.<br /> -Crackling campfire wood and light fruitiness make for a relaxing, almost soporific aroma.<br /> -Herbal hoppiness, malt roastiness, and multiple fruit &#40;berries, peaches, apricots, mangos&#41; render complexity if you care to look for it, but fail to excite.<br /> -The frothy carbonation and fragile maltiness all point towards überdrinkability.<br /> <br /> <i>What if you dig deeper?</i><br /> -A careful caress of leafy, herbal hops ends each sip.<br /> -Some dark chocolate is even whipped up by the wooden character.<br /> -As you get further down the pint, tartness stems from the fruitiness, and the roasting campfire slowly turns to ashes.<br /> -Another decent pint from Bear Brew; to echo Clark’s wishes, I’d really like this brewer to try something more exciting. He sure has the talent to do so.<br /> <br /> <b>Bottle; no date.</b>

Fresh 2006 bomber consumed on July 1st 2006. Very strong pour yields a full, lasting, sandy-colored head, obviously bottle conditioned, as tiny bubbles rise vigorously throughout the dark auburn &#40;but bright ruby when held to the light&#41; body. No lacing and it eventually recedes to cover, with no sediment on the bottom. Very subtle chocolate in the nose is somewhat sticky and combines with a hint of anise and light crystal malt hardness. Fresh yeast minerals and a touch of white dough round out this soft aroma of medium to medium-light strength. Earthy, dry and chocolatey with faintly grassy hops that are almost drowned out by the light, fruity esters. No alcohol apparent in the nose. The flavor provides a mildly creamy mouthfeel with notes of walnuts, graham crackers, dry chocolate and very lightly bready crystal/caramel malts. Some creaminess comes on as it breathes, while you get a bit of earthy, soily hops and a touch of coffee notes from the dark malts. True to the commercial description, the flavors are mild, vanishing in to water on the end &#40;though it is not loose in texture&#41; with just a bit of fruitiness and crunchy dark malt lingering. Mostly bittering hops provide an average amount of hop bitterness through the middle, with a light tingle on the end. Very well-brewed and extremely drinkable, I’d love to see what this brewer could do with a more interesting style and less filtration.

A gift from my friend Paul. This poured a really really dark red - like ruby red with hints of brown; very little head, no lacing. Aroma is malty sweet, a little smoke, not strong, but nice. Started thin and bubbly, then grew into 3 distinct flavors - the effervescent thin sharp taste, an almost sour thin fruit juice on top of that and then a thicker maltiness under it all with a bread and smoke flavor. I’m thinking that it’s flawed in some way, but at least it was an interesting drink

Dark amber pour with minimal head and lots of chunky floaties - somewhat sour, earthy aroma, with slight whiffs of cherry - very earthy flavor of strong, root veggies, like beets and taro - light caramel sweetness and a hint of sourness and acidity on the back end - very strange - unique, but not in an entirely good way.