McKenzie VuuVe XXxXX

Name: Vuuve XXxXX
Date: 12/07/2005
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting

clear amber, thin white head, sweet peppery spicy floral hop aroma, malty, spicy, touch of sweetness, nice pepper, hint of pine, great hops, low bitterness, a great Belgian double IPA

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***+/4

Draught at Kennett Square Fest October 2005
Brilliantly foamy, rocky, dense white/off-white head creates a mess of lacing and sticks atop the softly hazy, golden-straw body. Light carbonation in the liquid.
Brett spiciness, not so much tartness, but just spiciness...White pepper, coriander and tons of golding-hops at the start which slowly give way to a light citric quality backed by full pils maltiness. Sourish fruitiness (golden apples, nectarines, peaches) emerges with warming. Sticky, strong honey and strong spiciness sticking to the nose as it progresses. Everything seems to be going pretty well until towards the middle-end, a strong doughy, bready, moderately acidic blandness hits. It’s like extremely muted brett acid-meets-doughy, thick, Belgian yeast. The light, dainty hoppiness and spiciness up front just got lost, for me, by the end. Light notes of vanilla and some citrusy and spicy hops surface. Alcohol is well-controlled.
Again, same thing in the flavor. It starts out great. Crisp, fairly dry and with hop and brett juiciness/fruitiness, lots of herbal spiciness and no sign of its abv/heft. Honey emerges quietly, but then is banished by a juiciness, akin to apples, that is lightly acidic/sour. It melds in to the malts and creates a strong meaty/breadiness, which in turn seems to combine with lots of bland dough. Fantastic carbonation, though, really tight and engaging. No alcohol noted either, and the hops don’t kill you with bitterness. The delicate flavors at the start just get muddled/ruined by the strong yeastiness on the finish. Malt flavor is a bit lacking and the beer seems too "heavy" for what its trying to portray.
Strange, I’m usually one of the higher raters for his beers, but I just couldnt get in to this one.

Had this one at Kennett Square fest fall ’05. This beer rocks. I remember it being citrusy and really hoppy, and it hid the alcohol nicely. Probably the best one there that day. Quite an in-your-face IIPA! Wish I would have been able to fill a growler for the road! Can’t wait to see it again.

much thanks to egajdzis for breaking open this growler... Appears a hazy amber with a small white head and tons of scattered lacing left around the glass. Small streams of bubbles pump up from this bad boy, despite being aged 5 weeks. Smell is of sweet biscuit malt, perhaps a touch of pils & munich, and a huge hop profile...bitter sweet pine and rich pine sap stand out. Definite Belgian yest present. The taste is of the same aromas. Huge hops in here. Mouthfeel is hugely bitter and sweet with bitterness winning out the overall war but it still remains a nice, decently balanced brew.

Thanks to egajdzis for this month plus old growler. This really was a treat and a beer I kind of wrote off as one I probably would not be able to try out. Again thanks to Eric for bringing this growler along to a tasting. So it was a month old...and what it did was show that a beer like this can sit around in a growler for quite some time. Pours a hazy orange amber with a small lacing white head. When you spun this one around the head became even more creamy. Aroma of Belgian spice and yeast along with some banana, some malts and lighter hops in the aroma. Flavor of the same but more of the hops. Orange and piney, I just really loved this beer.