3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Mar. 15, 2013; on tap at the Utica (NY) brewpub. First visit to Nail Creek, and was very pleasantly surprised by the local offering. Dark, full-bodied, fairly-complex, unmistakably "Belgian". Looking forward to having pen in hand for a more detailed rating on the next sample.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
In short: A rich sweet fruity attack and a citric semi-dry finish. Drinkable strong blond ale.
How: Tap at brewpub.
The look: Clear dark blond body topped by an off-white ring of foam.
In long: Nose is semi-toasted honeyed cereals and a slice of those deep fried bananas dessert. Taste is quite sweet on the attack, very rich bready cereals with plenty of sweet juicy fruits covered with liquefied honey. A rich fruitiness that focuses on exotic fruits such as passion fruits, kiwis and others. Then the citric and grassy hops partially dry out the finish without adding much bitterness. I had three glasses of Nail Creek beers at this brewpub and I found each beer to be a bit “off” yet I also found each of them fun to drink. It might be the freshness of brewpub beers once again raising my score or something else in their beers I can’t explain. There were many things wrong with this brewpub, drunk frat boys, loud music, ugly decoration, even the message in the bathroom stall “for the worst sex ever call…” didn’t get my number right.
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