 Sledge Jr (2720), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Jun 24, 2006
On tap at the Old Market brewpub. Pours a cloudy amber in color. This is not filtered. Has a yellowy, off-white head. The head subsides rather quickly, but remains atop as a thin coating. The aroma evokes many things: pineapple glaze on a baked ham, brown sugar on your hot oatmeal, pineapple upsidedown cake fresh from the oven. The flavor resounds with an equally amazing bombardment of tastes: green apple lollipops, molasses, caramel fudge, ripe raspberries dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. The lacing is so heavy that it falls down the glass like sludge. This brew would be better served as a topping over vanilla ice cream. Dots of money form over the top of the thin head, like the bubbling La Brea tarpits. This is amazingly more like a fine bourbon than a beer. Treacle! Definitely a strong bolus of treacle! The palate is so very thick that you are saturated after just a couple of ounces. Dustin, a brewer here, tells me that this is 28°P with no sparge at all. He could not remember the IBU’s, but they use a stupid amount of German Magnum hops. Dustin is concerned that the beer has yet to attenuate. He’s afraid that if they bottle it, it will creep upwards to 14-16% ABV in the bottle. Beer grenade! A beer like this from Upstream only proves my point about these guys: They are capable of making GREAT beer when they want to. I just wish they always poured one drinkable beer instead of the boring watery beers so often made here. In my opinion, this is quite simply the best beer that has ever been made in Omaha and one of the top ratings I have ever handed out.
tjthresh (1318), Greenfield, Indiana, USA
May 5, 2008 From a bottle at the 2008 Parkville Microbrewers Festival. Pour hazy copper with a dark tan head. Oak vanilla and cherry nose. Lots of wood and caramel flavors and very bitter. Medium body. High carbonation. Long dry bitter finish. This is a big sippin’ beer.
kp (6200), Woodstock, Georgia, USA
Sep 1, 2007 Date: 07/15/2006
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, RBSG, 2006
clear dark amber, whispy white head, huge sweet malt aroma, lots of sweet malt flavor, an earthy woody essence, a touch of hot alcohol,
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Date: 08/03/2006
Source: aa
lots of sweet bourbon and vanilla in the aroma and flavor,
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: ***/4
yespr (6889), Copenhagen O, Denmark
Jul 1, 2007 RBSG07. From 75 cL bottle. Pours orange hazy. Aroma of malt and corn. Slight sweet and malty flavoured. Finish is malty bitterhops
CaptainCougar (4663), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Mar 11, 2007 Sampled on 7/15/06 at the RBSG ’06 Grand Tasting out of a growler courtesy of Sledge Jr: Pours a transparent copper orange with a thin, wispy ring of off-white head. Aroma of huge viscous sweet sticky honey and caramel malt with a healthy dose of alcohol. Body starts with a big sticky sweet fruity caramel toffee flavor along with some complex dark fruits, vanilla, butterscotch and a smooth, thick malty palate. Has a sticky warming finish but hides the alcohol relatively well.
RedHaze (369), Where the hell am I?, Nebraska, USA
Jan 14, 2007 750ml bottle.
Pours a bright copper color, with a tight one finger head that settles slowly to a thin cap and ring. The resulting lace is thick, and sticks nicely to the sides of my glass.
Smell; hints of oak-barrel, with a significant presence of whiskey. There’s some hints of fruits and grains, but everything seems to be a bit overrun by the oak barrel and whiskey aromas.
Taste; lots of fruit flavors with apples, raisins and plums, and maybe a little bit of figs as well. The middle has a nice sweet maltiness that fades into the oak-barrel and whiskey notes. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, with a very smooth carbonation that leads to a very nice drinkability.
So far this is the best beer that I’ve had from Upstream. I think I may have to go back for a couple more bottles.
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