25 oz bottle, via lb4lb. First pour is a nice dark gold to orange body with a slight haze under a fizzy light beige head that faded to a wispy film. The second pour looks like it’s going to be nasty, there’s a huge amount of globby floaties churning about in the bottle. The nose has two big competing aromas, sweet toffee malt and fresh juicy green apples. There’s some mulling spices, a touch of alcohol, and a bit of a graininess. The flavor is very sweet with tons of fruitiness and alcohol. This almost reminds me of Captain Lawrence Golden delicious on the finish. A good amount of yeast influence, crackery malt, and just a little lingering bitterness peeking out. Mouthfeel is full and thick with moderate fizzy carbonation and tons of warmth going down the chest. Overall, this was pretty decent, it grew on me the more of it I had. Really tasted like it was a little higher than 8.5%.

Cleveland tasting

Thanks to whomever cracked this open at crizay’s house. It was a refreshing change of pace though a tad predictable. I’m sure North by Northwest makes some great beers. I wouldn’t consider this one of them. It falls into the ’safe and drinkable’ category.

Aroma / Appearance - A pale white head danced above the bronze body trapping the chocolate dipped peaches and tapioca pudding underneath. Everything was cohesive but hardly exciting. The white bread base did little to make me want to spend more time than needed exploring what was there.

Flavor / Palate - A breakfast buffet of peaches and glazed Krispy Kreme donuts is complimented by bread. A trace of cheap processed ham lurks in the background. This was acceptable but given the circumstances I would probably pass on it in the future. It just doesn’t do enough for me to make it worth further inspection.

Shared at Cleveland tasting 3/15 Bottle: Pours a hazy gold with a white head. Aroma, light spices, yeast, some fruits. Flavor, spices, yeasty, sweet malts, fruits, and a bit doughy.

2007 draft at NXNW. Copper in color with 1/4" of white head. Sweet and malty in taste with notes of fruit. Extremely drinkable, went great with dinner (pork tenderloin). This is among the best beers I’ve had.

2007 bottle shared by notalush. Pours orange with slight white head. Aroma of citrus, along with spices and some sweetness (apples?) Very malty and fruity to the taste. Pretty light carbonation with a minerally finish. Some alcohol warming as well.