Sonoran 100

Formerly brewed at Sonoran Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Thanks for bringing this to a tasting, General_Gao. The body was dark brown with no head. The aroma was rich and leathery with some caramel. This had an aged cellar type smell that made me think of oxidation. The taste had some smoky malts with a little bit of apples. There was also some dank cellar, but it dominated and detracted from the beer. You gotta love the bottle which made me think of maple syrup.

Bottle provided by Kevin, thanks:

Deep muddy brown with quite oily appearance. The aroma is smoky, earthy, cardboardy (as actually expected), marzipan, prune, walnuts, and a bit boozy. The taste is much of the same, smoky and maple syrup overtones with a nutty, dark fruit and boozy finish. The mouth feel is shockingly dry and chewy, nicely warming upon the chest. Very different and would have loved to try this in a fresher state.

Thanks to murrayswine for the opportunity to try this! From #257/1000. Poured a clear, still iced tea brown with a coppery shimmer in the right light. I really enjoyed the aroma of deep maple sugars, lightly-smoked hickory, and honey.. not much in there resembled beer to be honest. The flavor was more brash than the aroma with a hefty peppery alcohol kick... maple, smoke, and alcohol warmth through the long finish. Warm and complex on the palate with a decent feel. Thanks Chris!

Poured a clear dark amber color with no real head. The aroma had a smokey and doughy quality mixed into semi-sweet malt. There is a taste of alcohol which can be expected but not too much burn for almost 20%. The flavor was actually kind of on the bland side.

Bottle At Cole’s Rare Beer Fest, January 2009. I think this varies from bottle to bottle - I know jerc and rudolf rated from a different bottle than my sample. Poured MURKY - thick, cloudy deep brown, smallish head - but I love non-clear beer - looked fantastic to me. Sweet, lightly smokey aroma, lushly nutty, not too boozy - really reminded me a lot of the Apis Jadwiga, definitely honey in there. The taste seemed drier, more alcohol-forward - buckwheat honey, seriously roasted malt, some balancing herbal bitterness, decidedly alcoholic, but to my palate very well balanced - quite warming. Thick, still mouthfeel, slightly alcohol-dry and astringent, with a long, sweet malty finish - sooooo good ("ham"? HAM? - you must have had a different bottle) ... only minor quibble, I’d like the herbal character to last a little longer, but I’d buy a bottle of this in a heartbeat.

2009-01-24. Hazy dark amber body, headless. (3+) Sweet aroma is a bit smoky, like honey ham or sweet smoked pecans. Flavour is quite different with a tangy malt, very mild smoky undertones, light bitterness throughout. Tangy fruit character. Bit odd to be honest but kind of interesting. (7+) Smooth average to medium bodied palate. An experience. Bottle 788 of 100, Coles Rare Beer Fest, Buffalo

Stratford tasting @ Cletus house. Pours a dark amber body with no carbonation. Vanilla, oak, malty maple, chalky sweetness. Not bad for 19%.

[169/10120] Poured a clear, dark copper color with no head, poured still, decent legs. Aroma of maple, honey, vanilla, nuts, and caramel. Taste was sweeter, maple, brown sugar, caramel, nuts, with a drier smoke, oak, and a bit of roast, before finishing warm. Extremely chewy mouthfeel, thanks Steve.