 JMFG (1002), Florida, USA
Aug 7, 2008 Sampled from bottle, courtesy hopscotch at Throwdown @ gumby’s. Thick-looking dark caramel brown, virtually no head. Sweet malty caramel, raisin, molasses notes with a strong bourbon background. Rich sweet caramel tastes mix with spicier tannic and alcoholic tones. The meld is quite appropriate for the old ale style and works well. The barrel character seems more subdued than the BA Numbskull I had, and that is a good thing relative to the beer style. Thanks Eric!!
after4ever (1681), Brier, Washington, USA
Aug 3, 2008 750. Corked, baled, and foiled. Thanks, Yonkers65! #221/280. Murky dark brown with caramel highlights and a thin tan rim. Huge creamy butterscotch nose with plenty of booze in there as well for sure. Butter, caramel, figs, and alcohol on the mid-palate. Mild nutty finish.
dchmela (659), Orlando, Florida, USA
Jul 30, 2008 Thanks to hopscotch for this gem!!! Cloudy dark brown pour. Aroma is sweet brown sugar, vanilla, caramel and oak. Malty caramel taste with spicy hops and more oak and vanilla sneaking its way in there. Very nice.
JoeMcPhee (3651), Jackson Heights, New York, USA
Jul 25, 2008 Bottle 239/280 courtesy of puzzl. Deep brown-orange beer, thin tan head. Aroma is loaded with rich oaky bourbon character. Lightly minty with a bit of chewy caramel. Prominent herbal aroma with dill and celery salt making the most prominent contribution. A bit of light fruitiness as well. Quite hot and boozy, but shows a bit of light licorice, orange peel and some softly oxidized fruitiness. Apricot and concentrated pear as well. Very woody and chewy with a damp tobaccoish flavour as well. It’s a good beer, but not a great one.
puzzl (1686), New York, New York, USA
Jul 21, 2008 Bottle from Sprinkle, 239/280, 2nd bottling. The cap pops with absolutely no sound whatsoever, so much so that I got worried that this was bootleg. Doesn’t taste it though, nor does it look it, as AFAIK the paper Decadence labels were only used in this bottling. Strong bourbon oak aroma with a gentle vanilla behind with some marzipan and celery. Wet, lush flavor, old, lightly oxidized, with a fair bit of oak in front of a mellow old ale body. Definitely the best BA Alesmith I’ve had yet, certainly in that it isn’t absolutely dominated by bourbon. There is actually still some beer left in here. I wouldn’t call this easy drinking but still it’s not too bad going down. Quite tasty but not worth an arm and a leg.
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