PB & C Special Ale

Draught at Salone Della Birra Artigianale e di Qualità 2007, Milan
With juniper, coriander, cinnamon
Golden color. Poor, with touch of vegetables.

Deep golden body, small to medium white head. Aroma is floral, syrupy, slightly yeasty. Fruity maltiness tempered by orange notes and a refreshing slightly zesty mouthfeel. Mellow and round taste, more similar to a mild belgian blonde ale. Body is medium, finish is slightly yeasty. Lacks some complexity to rank with the best, otherwise it’s OK.

Bottle. Clear orange with a small white creamy head. Smells of a fruity cereal variety with some oranges and apricots. Light sweet bread flavour along with toffee. Not bad but relatively straightforward.

Bottle at Volo, shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow & tupalev. Pours a dark yellow-gold with an average size mostly lasting white head. Mild aroma of sweet caramel malt, fruit, sugar and yeast. Flavour is sweet and yeasty -- too sweet even -- with some spices and fruit. Average body. I found this just O.K.

Bottle shared with blankboy, Hogtown Harry, and GregClow at Volo. Dark yellow, thick white head, tons of bubbles. Muted aroma - strong light malt, alcohol. Strong sweet malt taste - tastes stronger than 6.5%. Nice sweet taste, but nothing else really.

Bottle shared with blankboy, HogTownHarry and tupalev at Volo. Slightly hazy dark-gold with a small head. Mellow aroma, with faint hints of nondescript fruit and warn alcohol. Mouthfeel is soft, feels nice. Flavour is quite sweet, with some peach notes, a hint of spice, and a quick sticky finish. Not much character, but it’s OK.

Bottle.(Volo) Wheat front, gentle hint of vanilla, sweet sugary malt behind. Muddy bright amber ale, with very fine beads (3+). Vinous, smooth alcoholic ale, slightly yeasty in character. Medium bodied, soft smooth texture.

Bottle (750ml). At Volo, shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev. Hazy yellow-gold with an average creamy off-white head. Mildly sour malt aroma, quite grainy, gets an odd almost lactic funkiness to it as it opens up. Taste .... well, it tries very hard to be a yeasty/spicy sweetly malty Belgian blond, but it doesn’t get much past a dry wheat/grain character (although pouring the sludge at the bottom of the bottle into my glass yielded a result closer to that mark); plus it finishes quickly and almost insipidly. Pretty thick body to it, though, ever so mild acidity, solid carbonation, a little bitterness comes into the medium-length finish along with candyish malt and lemony tartness - perhaps not as full of character as I’d like, but interesting, particularly the dregs.