Black Sheep Riggwelter (Bottle)

Pours brown with a big beige head. Aroma of roast and caramel malt. Flavor is roast malt, chocolate, with a long bitter finish.

Serving: 500 ml. bottle. Appearance: Brown with garnet highlights. Foamy, light tan head. Decent lacing left behind. Aroma: Vinous notes, raisin, caramel, and a slight metallic note. Not terrible, but not stellar either. Flavor: A little fruitiness, caramel malt, slight roasted notes, herbal hops, and perhaps a slight burnt note. Something I can’t quite place. Palate: Smooth, medium-low carbonation with a medium mouthfeel. Long, bitter and roasty finish. This one had odd aftertaste that seemed to stick to my mouth. Not exactly pleasant. Overall: Decent flavor at first, but the lingering bitter aftertaste that wouldn’t go away really dragged this one down. Okay, but certainly not worth seeking out, especially since you pay a premium for this one to be shipped across the pond.

Bottle from Morrisons supermarket Hatch End. Ruby coloured pour with a decent fluffy head. Dark fruit aroma. Dark fruit, chocolate, roasty taste. Solid easy drinking old ale.

Ruby Coloured, big off-white head. Nose: Malt, slight herb. Taste: Treacle, bitter chocolate, roast nuts, quite bitter. Ok but nothing special.

Bottle shared with funkybrewster. Pours a glowing dark very rich red, but absolutely clear, with a tall thin airy foamy light beige froth. Aroma is a mix of sweet and fruity and dark and roasty, some light butter, rich roasted coffee and chocolate. Flavor leads with a nice alcohol and bitter combination smoothing into a glassy sweetness with subtle fruit and some light butter, finishes with an odd combo of bitter coffee, roasted malt and sweet fruits. Rich and very bitter. Seems like the bitterness is mostly attributed to the hard roasted malt even though there is a definite hop bite left in the the aftertaste. Medium bodied, very smooth, glassy, softer sizzling carbonation adding some fluffiness.

Thanks 17th floor! Pours a lovely reddish brown with a nice thick billowy off white head. Aroma is, as 17thfloor said, quite portery. Really strong dark roasted malts, nice character of raisins hiding behind a slight coffee and toast note. Flavor starts with a bit dark roasted malt, again some coffee beans and dark fruits provide a soft sweetness. Finishes with a much more aggressive bitterness and peppery quality that completely opposes the soft sweet middle. Medium body and a soft carbonation. Interesting old ale, very much based around those roasted malts rather than the dark fruits.

Such a lovely fluid this pours, a rich reddish brown and an aroma to match. Adequate head but the best is in the complex taste, with hints of malt and chocolate. Gotta like it.

I had this in the bottle at the French Laundry in Fenton, MI. It poured a darker amber, and had a very pear like aroma. The flavor was also of pears, and was really light. Good session beer, but I don’t think I would get it again. Cheers!