3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
Cask at Pigs Ear BF 2012, London. Pours black with minimal head. Burnt oak on the nose, some cocoa. Big sweet flavor, lightly musky, with oak, sugary cocoa, chocolate syrup, burnt wood. Full bodied with soft carbonation. Warming finish with rich chocolate, torched oak, light ham, earth. Lacks condition but not flavor. Rich stuff.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: FEB 4, 2013 Wooden Cask (CWAF2013, Thurs) (sip) (7:4:7:4:14=3.6)
Apples and pears, then oak on the nose. Quite smooth palate. Sharp sourness crispens the sweetness. Old and nutty rather than off and sour. Good.
Rerate: later the same day (sip) (7:4:7:4:14=3.6)
sharper, and more berries this time. Better in some intangible ways, but not as good in others. No need to change score
Rerate: same cask, Sat (7:4:8:4:15-=3.8-)
Woh, has come alive with a bit more settling and some breathing - note - this was the final half pulled from the cask. Very heady aroma. Black, thick, no carbonation. Rich sweet roast. Buttery retronasals. Very heady. But also very easy to drink for 10%. Nicely warming. A little winey. What a great way to finnish the barrel!
2.4 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 9/20
Cask conditioned at Cambridge Winter Ales Festival ’13. Black with no head. There is a heavy latex, rubbery note to this added to a wet cardboard flavour. A difficult beer to drink from all angles, not great.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
4th December 2012
Pigs Ear. Opaque black beer, no real head. Palate is light and dry. Sourish dark malt, subtle red wine. Mild lactose and some salt. Quite a dry finish. Not quite joined up and not much oak, but quite flavoursome.
2 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 7/20
Gravity @ Pigs Ear 2012. The pour’s deep brown with no head whatsoever. The nose is STRONG oak, sickly sweet vanilla and caramelized brown sugar. Oak really dominates the aroma, and it’s hard to pick out other aromas. The taste is super sweet concentrated toffee, vanilla, discarded coffee rinds. Very strong notes of wood. Just a mess of strong flavors that don’t compliment each other very well. There’s a bilious quality to the beer that I found really unappealing too. Big body. Overall, this beer’s not good. I was relieved that I was sharing my half with someone else, because it would have been torture to drink an entire serving by myself. I like big beers, but this wasn’t a success.
|
