Sly Fox Ichor

Brewed by Sly Fox Brewhouse
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Royersford and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania USA

Courtesy of matta. This 2005 vintage pours deep dark amber with weak off white head. The aroma is invitingly nice with figs and plums tangled together with some caramel candy, molasses and a sense of alcohol. The taste begins fruity with dates and figs mixed with caramel, molasses and some mild roasty malts. This has a big flavor. Toward the finish the sense and taste of the alcohol grows to a level detectable but not distracting. This is one tasty offering.

750mL bottle, courtesy of argo0. Thanks, Aaron! Pours a dark, clear, oily ruby-brown color; mostly headless with a thin off-white perimeter. Boozy dried fruits and brown sugar and maple syrup in the aroma; quite warm. Viscous, medium-to-full mouthfeel: plenty of sticky candy sugar and dried fruits and esters; shows lots of booziness and alcoholic warmth; dense and chewy, but a bit much; still, pretty tasty for how messy this is. Lengthy, sticky candy sugar and brown sugar in the finish; very sweet.

Poured from a 750 ml bottle. Clear, burnt red pour. Aroma suggests vinegar and cinnamon most prominently, amidst a lot of heavy and dark honey-laden malt presence; tangential moments of salt and cardamom. Mulled wine, honey, and maple flavor; hints of pear, apple, and banana, mostly caramelized and letting only the sugars through. Doughy and sweet. Apple brandy and whisky with sweet nutty tones melt through with the impact of heat; slick and medium to full bodied in the mouth. The flavors altogether are quite nice, but their integration is sloppy and plagued by the forcefulness of generic sweetness. Thanks for sharing, Aaron!

Another surprise from the one and only matta. Thanks again, sir. This one is certain to mess with my Quad averages, as the two previous samples were St. Bernardus 12 and Westy 12, both tied for my top rated beer at 4.7. This will be lucky to score half that. Dark plum body, very slight head. Pretty much no retention or lacing, and leaves just a slight edging of bubbles. Nose is an attention getter, but for the wrong reasons, Lots of fusels, along with sickly sweet fruits and sugars. Where is the complexity? Unfortunately the sweetness and heat carry over to the flavor, making this one a chore to drink. Medium bodied, sticky, not cloying mouthfeel. Lengthy, sweet finish, full of cherries and chocolate, the best part of this beer. The alcohol leaves a healthy burn behind in the back of the throat for quite some time.

Bottle. Virtually no head. Body is hazy dark brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (almost-burnt caramel, roasted nuts, molasses), with notes of sugar syrup, alcohol, and sherry. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium to full body, syrupy texture, soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Needs work. Very simple, syrupy-sweet example. Unfortunate.

Sampled from a 750 ml corked brown bottle this beer poured a medium black color with a trace of a khaki head. The aroma was sweet ripe fruits and molasses. The flavor was sweetish and tangy with ripe fruits (mostly cherry) and a strong long lasting molasses element. The molasses flavor really dominates and lingers forever. The body was flat and moderately thick. Way too one dimensional - so much so that although the initial taste was promising the beer’s scores dropped with each further sip.

THOUGHTS:Not much aroma. TECHNICAL: On tap at the Grey Lodge Pub. Color was medium brown with orange highlights with a small, off-white head that was quickly gone and left no lacing. The aroma was some sour grapes and cherries. It wasn’t bad just weak. The flavor was strong but pretty much just sour grapes and cherries. The medium to full body was chalky to dry with tingly carbonation and a metallic, sour finish.

thanx to Boboski for sharing this. Poured a ruby red color with virtually no head.Aroma was candy sweet. Flavor was sweet, molasses and really can taste the Belgian candy sugar.Finish was alcohol warming.