Black Sheep Riggwelter (Bottle)

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Old Ale
Ripon, England

Bottle shared with funkybrewster. Pours a glowing dark very rich red, but absolutely clear, with a tall thin airy foamy light beige froth. Aroma is a mix of sweet and fruity and dark and roasty, some light butter, rich roasted coffee and chocolate. Flavor leads with a nice alcohol and bitter combination smoothing into a glassy sweetness with subtle fruit and some light butter, finishes with an odd combo of bitter coffee, roasted malt and sweet fruits. Rich and very bitter. Seems like the bitterness is mostly attributed to the hard roasted malt even though there is a definite hop bite left in the the aftertaste. Medium bodied, very smooth, glassy, softer sizzling carbonation adding some fluffiness.

Thanks 17th floor! Pours a lovely reddish brown with a nice thick billowy off white head. Aroma is, as 17thfloor said, quite portery. Really strong dark roasted malts, nice character of raisins hiding behind a slight coffee and toast note. Flavor starts with a bit dark roasted malt, again some coffee beans and dark fruits provide a soft sweetness. Finishes with a much more aggressive bitterness and peppery quality that completely opposes the soft sweet middle. Medium body and a soft carbonation. Interesting old ale, very much based around those roasted malts rather than the dark fruits.

Such a lovely fluid this pours, a rich reddish brown and an aroma to match. Adequate head but the best is in the complex taste, with hints of malt and chocolate. Gotta like it.

I had this in the bottle at the French Laundry in Fenton, MI. It poured a darker amber, and had a very pear like aroma. The flavor was also of pears, and was really light. Good session beer, but I don’t think I would get it again. Cheers!

I had this at a session ale tasting. Toasty, roasty and pretty nice to drink, I liked it.

Bottle courtesy of MaltDawg from Wine Warehouse on 07/24/2009. Very clear dark amber bod ywith a large frothy off-white head. Sweet caramel, toasty malt, and light fruity aroma. Sweet toasty malt flavor, some caramel and earthy hop notes and some light fruitiness. Medium light body with moderate carbonation.

Large bottle. Not a bad brew but was put off a bit by the pronounced alcohol taste despite only being a 5.7 abv.

Bottle: Ruby pour with a nice lacing consistent tan head. Tons of berries in the aroma- some toasted malt notes in the background (crystal malt) and some British ale yeast estery fruitiness. Light fluffy feel. The flavor is both earthy and fruity. Has a berryish note at the fore, then comes more malt character with dark mildly roasted flavors and a slight fruit skin bitterness. Some very mild underlying dark cocoa and a toasted raisin note. The finish as a moderate peppery bitterness to balance. A decent and sessionable Old Ale.