Ottos Five Year Ale

Formerly brewed at Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
State College, Pennsylvania USA

Handbottle from mj! Thanks! Nose of molasses, spices, and caramel; Rusty red with not much head; flavor is sweet with toffee, caramel, alcohol, and some woodiness.

Poured from a 12 oz handbottle. Clear, syrupy pour of metallic yellow. Cinnamon, butter, blonde brownie on the nose, leaning into maple syrup and an uneasy wink of heat. Yeast lends a touch of synthetic quality similar to canned cheese. Flavor is dirty, sugary and light with tripel sentiments; french toast and muddy peat are prominent and touched with pineapple ferment, sticky honey, and toasted malt. The crunchy candy sugars define it more clearly in its hot quad design, while alcohol rushes swiftly back through the nose. Almost uncarbonated, which seems to inhibit its cloying tendency a bit; thick, and reasonably silky. Reserved, and rather nice, though it needs to darken its disposition significantly. Thanks for sharing, Mike!

11/3/07 - Draft at brewpub. Orange ambe color. Nose is minimal, spice and malt. Touch of giniger and coriander, orange peel. Nice belgium. Again, ordinary for me, but good.

On tap, at brewpub. Pours a clear orangish amber with a large bubbled creamy beige head that had pretty good retention. The nose is extremelt sweet with lots of fruity esters of banana and bubblegum, candi sugar, and some noticable alcohol. Flavor is very sweet with lots of candi sugar and toffee. A good alcohol kick on the finish. This needs alot more yeast influence, both in flavor and to cut down on the sweetness. Mouthfeel is extremely thick and viscous with a soft fizzy carbonation level and a mouthcoating sticky finish. Overall, this was not their best offering. Kinda reminds me of Avery The Reverand, and in my mind that’s not a good thing.

On tap at the brewpup. Clearly this is not a quad. It seems to be a belgian trippel if anything, much in the line of many De Dolle offerings but without the wonderful yeasty qualities. I got alot of candi sugar and some lighter fruits. A bit too sweet, and a bit too thin as well.

Pours a very calm, very dark amber with oily chestnut hues. Only a notion of a light beige head is spurned by very low carbonation and a viscous body that seems to stifle what carbonation there is into stasis. The aroma is a dense conglomeration of caramel malt and treacle. Candi sugar is heavy, but there is also a raw component to it that signifies overattenuation. Alcohol is mild, but everpresent. Cereal grain grinds against Rhum orange traits, creating a syrupy attack on the senses. The flavor is much the same, syrupy and loaded with caramelized sugars and scorched caramel maltiness. Doughy malt is scattered about and occasionally roars to a head, suppressing some of the more delicate chocolate and spice that seems to lurk beneath. The finish is caramelly and semi-sweet, fading quickly but softly. Mouthfeel is a particular quandary: medium body, lightly sticky, some watery pockets, awkward textures. Decent. Even though this wasn’t exciting or particularly well-executed, I’m happy I got to try it.

Poured a reddish-chestnut brown. Aroma is very sweet, at least to these nostrils. Candi sugar, almond extract or marzipan, some banana, all seem to be fighting for dominance, with no one clear winner. The alcohol is present as well. Flavor is cloyingly sweet. The lack of carbonation is really hindering my enjoyment.

On tap at the brewpub. Aroma is a cranky, stippled reek of bathroom medicines, fermenting gourds and overly sweet sugar. Not appealing. Pours a amber-tinted gold, plain, clear and rimmed with whitish. Flavor yields an overly phenolic and biting Belgian yeast. Alcohol runs hot and the body sticky, cloying and overworked. There’s a lot a sense of yeast stress in this beer. Too much alcohol, fusels, and harsh grain chemicals. Really nothing pleasant about the component profiles of this beer. There are a few washes of pale mature fruits and bubbly bread spritzes, but generally it suffers from overproduction. Bold notes of bubblegum that puts it over the line for me. Finishes with confused mossy hop flash. Right up there with the Reverend.