Pizza Port Late Harvest 15 Year Anniversary Ale

Formerly brewed at Pizza Port (Solana Beach)
Style: Barley Wine
Solana Beach, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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2002 Bottle at Monks after the cellar dinner. This bottle was totally grimed out from being in Tom’s cellar for the past 10 years. Poured a slightly hazy amber color, with thin off white head and a little bit of lacing. Aromas of wood, vinegar, dark grapes, plum, malts, pine, citrus. Taste was filled with delicious crystal malts and dark fruits, other notes of fig, pinot noir. Lots of vinous notes coming through with soft oak mouthfeel. Warming in the upper chest. Excellent beer, in my top 3 of the night.

A fairly old bottle. This beer was killer. Almost clear amber color with an off-white head. The aroma was fairly complex and not too oxidized. The aroma had a good sweetness to it with notes of Chardonnay, wood, and fruity malt. The flavor was malty with some vinous character as well. Hops really weren’t around but there was a bitterness at the finish that could have been from hops, the wood, or even the alcohol. There was enough flavor to cover it and any alcohol taste. Great warmth in the chest. Medium to full bodied. I didn’t even know this stuff existed. Yum

Tap @ 2004 Toronado Barley Wine Festival. Hazy amber color with a foamy white head. Light vinous flavors with a tiny bit of fruit in the flavor.

2/21/04. On draft at Toronado Barley Wine Festival ’04 in San Francisco, CA 2/21/04. Dark copper-bronze color, almost like a plum wine. Scarlet edge. Not much head, but it's a rocky, very dark tan with slow and spotty lacing. Looks quite nice. But it isn’t. Not even close. Aroma is vinegary and vinous and holy shit. Flavor is grapey and vinegary, totally off-balance like I thought the beer was spoiled and off. A little leather pokes through, but doesn’t make it go down easier. This guy is a monster. But somehow, the body is surprisingly thin, also silky in texture. Finish is ridiculously hot and darkly malty beneath it all. Big grape flavors into wine with a sharp woodiness and balance like a one-man seesaw. What a disappointment.

This brew pours with a cloudy ddep amber body topped by a thin head with little lacing. The aroma is bitter, malty and oakey with lots of alcohol and a touch of fruit. The flavor is sweet yet bitter, woody and malty with a touch of friut and alcohol. Full bodied, smooth and warming.

I can't help but think it was not right (Toronado Barley Wine Fest '04) but because I was assured by several people that it was as it was supposed to be, I'll rate it. Where do I start? A dull, unenlightened brown. It is SOUR, but not in that good lambic-y way we're all familiar with. Aroma is actually quite nice--quite reminiscent of a good port, but perhaps a bit more treacly--lots of big fat red grape notes with smooth brown sugar/molasses malts. But flavor is surprisingly uncomplex, and bafflingly thin for such a big beer. Just sour with little or no malt complexity. Fetid. I did not find this complex or enjoyable in any way. Sorry.

Murky, no head, burgandy colored. Interesting beer. Reminds me of Levitation by Fish Tales. Wine character to it. Wood comes through quite clear, I'm not sure I pick up any of the hops. Sour finish. Well done and interesting.

Dark brown, flecks of red cranberry at the edges. . . Aroma of cherry malt, very good brown ale flavours, kicked up with undertones of the sour cherries, white grapes and green apples. Pretty good flavour, but a bit too 'winey' in the finish. Doesn't linger well for me.

Little head, immediately disapearing. Yeast in suspension. Deep brown beer with a reddish shine troughout. Nose: alcoholic - and a lot! Prunes - maybe slivovitch. Just tasted after 'Cuvée de Tomme', and the parentage is obvious. Taste gives wood & tannines, dark malt, prunes again, liquourish. Sourish tinge,and then: RAISINS in the way of the Flemish 'boerejongens' (=cherries or raisins preserved in jenever). Adstringent mouthfeel, alcohol (oh surprise!). No new aftertaste, unless you count the way your throat reacts after a triple brandy. This beer presented me some problems, finding the right descriptions. But Tomme is a magician, no doubt.

Bottled at the Chicago Barrel Aged Beer Festival. Strong alcohol in the nose. Strong grape flavors with hints of other dark fruits. The flavor was interesting, but seemed sort of one dimensional with grapes and seemingly little else. It was missing a little something that could have made it great.