McKenzie Abbey 8

Auburn in color. Finely beaded bubbles beneath a lumpy, spongy meringue. Alluring scents of assorted berries, mint, fennel, and bready malt. Underlying floral hop fragrance and doughy yeast. Lush carbonic texture. Superbly conditioned. Vague toffee breaths allay the early alcoholic sting. Amply full, with isolated pockets of airiness chased by a swift counterpoint of body-strengthening bready malt richness. Vibrant splash of juicy floral hops and soft melon acidity slowly relapses into a vast range of subtleties of vanilla, zippy fennel, spicy yeast, and cedary alcohol. Dry phenolic esters lengthen the dainty level of spice. Deeply-rooted cakey malt and doughy yeast gain foothold by working in tandem to highlight the tongue-tingling esters and sustain the fluffily thick body. Finishes yeastily astringent, yet moistly yeasty, as well, with a sweep of succulent malt accented with fruitcake and bulbously husky pale malt tones. Yeast addition imparts more mint to the aroma and exponentially increases the peppery flavor. Another artful brew from this most skillful brewer.

750ml bottle thanks to jeffin7: Nice light brown colored body with a large light tan head. Interesting nose that’s fruity, with notes of berries, mint, spicy yeasts, banana, clove, bread, dough, and pear. Hints of fruit & toffee hint initially with some alochol. Then you get notes of sweet malt, caramel, vanilla, with some nice phenols and spice notes in there. Before things end you also get some flavors of slightly sour yeast, pepper & doughy malts. Nice depth and complexity here.

Pours turbid dark brown with medium splotchy wgite head. Aroma of malt, dark fruit, spices....very Belgian dubbly aroma. Tastes malty, fruity, with some finishing toffee and caramel malt and candi sugar. Not real dense on the palate, and with very little carbonation. Still, very complex and well balanced. A nice example of the style, and another winner from McKenzie’s.

Vintage August 2004. Hand bottled by McKenzie’s - 750ml bottle. Poured a medium to darker, cloudy copper color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas and tastes of spices, bananas, yeast and some caramel. Malty and bready in the tastes as well. Lively and dry body.

Bottle courtesy of hopdog and one of the dude’s final batches at McKenzies. Pours pinkish brown with a thin tan head. Smells perfumy with lots of dark fruit, spices and dough. Taste is of tarte cherries, lots of fruit, nutty malt and pepper. An excellent beer. I hope to see this brewer land firmly on his feet.