Sonoran 200

Brewed by Sonoran Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

13.2oz bottle, courtesy of Sonoran and Rob at Barclay’s. Thanks, guys! I’ve been really looking forward to cracking this. Pours a murky, oily copper-brown color; headless; very little carbonation to this; good amounts of viscosity and a deep wooden hue. The nose on this is enormous, the alcohol well-hidden: soft brown sugar and maple syrup and caramel notes (all of those deep, brown, lightly oxidized notes fitting aged barley wines); heavily malt-forward; this doesn’t smell anything like 19%+; dense, chewy, lightly oxidized malt character combined with the agave nectar (contributing the floral and berry characters, is my best guess on this) and its barrel-aged origins (light vanilla, hints of charred wood); a very lightly warming alcohol presence; this is beautifully integrated and strikes the nose as a vaguely foreign, oxidized barley wine with years behind it: highly mellowed, lightly unctuous, generous in its caramel-driven malts; very pleasant and smooth aroma overall. Full mouthfeel: essentially flat, minimal carbonation, anything but lifeless; loads of oily, rich, lightly oxidized maltiness: maple syrup and brown sugar without astringency, some pervasive vanilla and caramel notes; very sweet without being sticky or cloying; floral and, again, a hint of an unfamiliar berry / contributing sweetness coming from the agave; the closest thing I can compare this to I’ve already done above, but this is much smoother than any aged barley wine I can think of; minimal hop presence; just a juicy, smooth, and clearly presented malt-forward pseudo-liqueur. Gorgeous, dense, and well-tempered. In stark contrast to so many obnoxiously overweight beers right now, this is very drinkable. Medium, nicely toasty finish: surprisingly dry ending to this (a good sign of the amount of love and time that went into this beer to mellow things out), keeping the palate alive, awaiting more: lingering oiliness, smooth caramel candy and vanilla, just hints of barrel.

bottle at RBESG 2011 Grand Tasting ... Dark murky brown ... huge oxidiesed vanilla toffee nose ... oversweet sugers ... vanilla ... no balance ... rough sweet sugers ... big alcohol in finish

Big thanks to Hellbilly for this one! Pours murky brown/orange with no head. Aroma of agave, oak, sugar and raisins. Kinda has an aroma similar to Grappa. Taste is sweet and sugary, with smokey qualities like Mazcal, fruit, honey, agave. 19% abv is masked very well, this is pretty odd stuff but I like it.

Bottle shared with atom. Pours, nasty, murky brown. Looks like watered down maple syrup. Aroma is agave, a ton of burnt carmalized sugar, caramel, booze, brown sugar, and some fruit presence. Surprisingly tastes a whole lot better than it smells and looks. Fairly sweet overall. Sugar in the raw packet, agave, more balanced caramel, wet wood and some toffee flavors. The booze is nicely masked for 19%. Oily and sticky mouth feel. Finish is chalk full of wood. Not so pleasant nose, horrid looking, but kind of enjoyable.

Looks like wet diarrhea in the glass. Wow that is pretty nasty looking, so let’s hope it smells better than it looks. Woah... This is just too, fucking, much on the nose. Sweet raisins, some brown sugar, slight vanilla and chocolate notes, and a touch of oak. Sweet smelling so I’m not looking forward to how this tastes. Way too sweet and flat. Takes my fucking breath away with how sweet this is. Sweet raisins, agave syrup which gives this a maple character, more raisins in the finish, and just a ton of white sugar in the finish. This is, fucking, way too sweet for me, and the absence of carbonation makes this impossible for me to drink. Sorry guys, but this is just not something I want to drink more than one small sip of.

Shared by phaleslu, thanks Peter! Pour is clear copper and still. Aroma is powerful sweetness with a touch of squash-like sweetness. Also hints of agave and pine. Flavor is wicked sweet with hints of herbs and more sugar. Wow, a strange brewed product.

Sampled at a recent RB St. Louis gathering - Pours murky amber/brown with no real head going on here. The aroma is very sweet with notes of fruit (especially peaches), syrup and alcohol with a richness to it all. The body is very slice and velvety with no carbonation. The taste has sweet nectarines, agave sweetness and fruit punch. The flavors seem quite muddled. This was interesting and glad I got to try it, but it is definitely too sweet for my tastes.

Sampled at the St. Louis RB gathering. It poured a murky golden orange color with almost no head. The aroma was of caramel, apple, honey, and some toffee. The flavor was of honey, toffee, agave, and florals. Glad I had a chance to try this, really different.

Sampled at the Saint Louis Ratebeer Gathering in a tulip glass, thanks phaleslu! First of all, just look at that bottle. Consider yourself warned. Poured a cloudy, medium orange amber color with no real head. Clear alcoholic legs when swirled (duh.) Nectar of the agave plant--also used to make tequila--is a pure fermentable much like honey. Predictably, this non-distilled brew ends up very similar to sack mead. Heavy body, cloying sweetness. No detectable hops, or malt either, for that matter. Not very beery, but I’m sure glad I got to try it. Take it slow and easy.