 GAManiac (264), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
May 29, 2008
Rating #100! Pours a beautiful deep brown with mahogany hints around the edges. The head is a rocky off-white two fingers thick which lingers for quite a while and leaves minimal lacing. Where do I start with the aroma? Sweet bready caramel malts with huge dark fruit aromas of raisins and plums up front. Big and complex with molasses, brown sugar, and some spices on top of that. Just a wonderfully aromatic brew. Just like the smell, the taste is just incredibly complex and wonderful. There is a prevailing sweetness that pervades the entire flavor with molasses, dark fruit, caramel, and vanilla. Spices are also present but perfectly balanced with the sweetness and malts. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth but with a nice big carbonation that tickles the tongue. I honestly don’t think you could improve the mouthfeel...exceptional. Well, what else to add to the praise. I’m not sure if this is the best beer I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty damn close. It’s unbelievably complex but extremely drinkable and is certainly the best of the style I have ever tasted.
Beerman6686 (654), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Aug 19, 2008 Poured a hazy brown color with a tiny off white head. Aroma was of a lot of dark fruits, caramel, nuts and some alcohol. Flavor was lots of caramel, and some fig and dates, and some grass with a nice alcohol warmth and thickness in the swallow. Pretty good, but I would prefer a Rochefort 10
uhre (231), Denmark
Aug 18, 2008 The beer is dark brown with a tone of red, and a huge head. Aroma of caramel, alcohol, prunes and cherries perhaps - sweet. The flavor is of dark fruit, cherries, caramel and a bit of burn from the alcohol to balance the sweetness.
nbutler11 (108), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Aug 14, 2008 Sincere thanks to ajm for leaving this in my fridge. It would have been better shared, but there’s no way I could keep staring at this one. Poured a robust/murky brown from the bottle with a thick tan head of foam. Notes of lemon zest, almost like a pilsner, in the nose as well as some hazlenut. Very unsuspecting until the molasess, caramel, apple, hazenut, and smoke slam your palette. Aggressive, yet sweet, with mild carbonation. Distinctly German. Plenty of sediment. Certainly a treat, but not quite the Holy Grail of Beers.
nhorween (502), New York, New York, USA
Aug 12, 2008 Thanks cmubeerman, side-by-side with Westy 8. 2+ years old. Creamy head with a mahogany-chestnut body. Almost minty aroma, cherries, dark fruit, anise, cloves, coriander, cardamom. Much more complex, fruity, and boozy than the 8. Flavor is malty, smooth, and complex. Round, bitter, and boozy finish.
badlizard (1430), San Diego, California, USA
Aug 10, 2008 Bottle from ebay. Dark brown with a garnet tint and no head. Raisin, fig, and brown sugar and grain aroma. Initial taste has some wine like character with raisin and dark fruit flavors, mild spice, brown sugar, and subtle vanilla followed by a sweet oat and cereal grain taste with some perceptible alcohol in the finish. Quite complex, subtle and delicately balanced flavors. It’s quite good, but it’s not an over the top aggressive beer, which is what I prefer. Nevertheless, it probably deserves it place at the top.
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