Black Sheep Riggwelter (Bottle)

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Old Ale
Ripon, England

A deep dark translucent brown with a thick moka head. Aroma of brown sugar, butterscotch, and plums. In mouth, a smoky oily malt, with light sweetness, and light British hopping, with nice sustained nuttyness. Medium bodied. Bottle is actually almost a year old, from Capflu if I recall (so from BC) and still a good quaffer.

500mL bottle purchased from LCBO in Toronto. Pours a clear dark brown. The aroma is lemony - perhaps a bit metallic. Flavour is a balanced maltiness and of a decent strength. It’s all decent stuff, I suppose, but I’m finding it a bit boring really. I suppose it’s just not my style.

Brown bottle, 500 ml, purchased at the LCBO, savoured on February 16 2008; eye: light ruby, clear, slight effervescence, voluminous beige head, no lacing; nose: hops, light alcohol, light malt, light caramel; mouth: a bit thin, carbonation, grainy malt covered by grainy hops, caramel, finale in grainy malt-hop, average astringency, mildly bitter, lightly sweet, medium body; overall: quite enjoyable FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 500 ml, achetée à la LCBO , savourée le 16 février 2008; œil : rubis léger, claire, très légère effervescence, mousse beige abondante, pas de dentelle; nez : houblon, léger alcool, léger malt, léger caramel; bouche : un peu mince, carbonatation, malt granuleux recouvert de houblon granuleux, caramel, finale en malt-houblon granuleux, astringence moyenne, moyennement amère, légèrement sucrée, corps moyen; en résumé : bien aimé

Bottle. Dark brown with some red in it, white head. Roasted malt with low bitterness. Caramel? Quite dry. When it was warmed up a bit the malt really was there but still not much hops in it. No rubber notes that can be present in a ale.

This dark brown and amber coffee ale looked fairly subdued in my glass with a quickly disappearing head. Its aroma of malt and hops was slight, but I attributed that to it being colder than needed for serving. The flavor seemed to balance well between the malts, water, and hops so I decided to wait for it to warm up. Twenty minutes later, it came to life with a maltier taste than I expected. It turned out to be a good ale for me.

Clear dark copper/golden poor with a frothy light brown head. Aromas of banana nut bread, bubble gum, alcohol, roasted malts and sweet caramel. Fantastic, greatly balanced mouthfeel... first impression was WOW. Great bitter mouthfeel that completes the creamy caramel sweetness perfectly. Flavors are mostly what you get out of the aromas. Medium to full body for an almost 6% beer that’s great. Crisp hoppy finish, i wasn’t expecting much, but i am more than satisfied with this brew.

500ml bottle - An old ale? Really? I thought it tasted like another bitter and a good one at that. The aroma is mostly malt, but the flavor has a nice balance of lightly roasted malt and crisp hops bitterness. It’s medium bodied and finishes dry.

Bouteille de 500 ml, acheté le 12/01/08 au LCBO de Rideau et King Edward (Ottawa). Belle rousse, petit collet avec un peu de dentelle. Arome légé d’houblon et de caramel roti. Gout de malte fumé, avec une touche de cacao, sensasion d’houblon légèrement amère, finition fruité.