St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

12oz bottle from Maxxdaddy. thanks again!..... pours a vivid reddish brown with a medium to thick off-white head.... aroma of sweet ripe fruit, rum, caramel/toffee malt and a little alcohol..... dark fruits and caramel malt for the majority then hits you with a dose of bitterness. somewhat of a boozy and bitter aftertaste. really nice and fluffy mouthfeel. really nice palate-wise but the finish doesn’t totally jive with me.

Bottle, 2007. Malt aromas of moderate roasted and caramel, hops of perfume and orange, light dough for the yeast, with notes of dried apricot and wine. Head is average sized, creamy, white, with fair lacing and fully diminishes. Color is murky orange/tan. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, and finishes lightly sweet and acidic and has a long moderately bitter aftertaste. Palate is medium to full. The texture, which was is the best part of this beer, is both oily and syrupy. It has a soft carbonation and finishes lightly astringent. A nice beer with all the atributes of a classic Barley Wine. The slightly unpleasant aftertaste lowered the overall score a bit.

2007bottle drank aug 16 quite enjoyable. Very nice fruitiness and hops on the nose. Both of these features came out in the flavour also. Quite impessed with the numerous flavours that emerged. Fruitness of perhaps plums, solid hoppiness to give it some bite and a caramel like sweetness. decent mouthfeel. I like it.

Another stocking stuffer last year. (I completely forgot about having this until now. I remember it quite well though. Sweet, malty, fruity aroma and flavour. Ages quite well. I will look forward to having this again.

2007 Vintage; tasted July 30, 2008: Many thanks to Stine for this one! Copper color with a medium head. Light floral and hop spice aroma. A good amount of caramelly malt sweetness. That ramps up a bit in the flavor. Some toasted malt as well, and bread. Light earthy hop. Very tasty.