Bristol Lab XXX (Triple Laughing Lab)

Formerly brewed at Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

Fully diminishing white head forms atop the amber-orange liquid. The latter immediately offers intense candi sugar affected cookieish and caramel flavors that are not really enhanced by the heavy fruity alcohol fumes. Rather phenolic yeastiness joins forces to accentuate the ethanol feel even more, but those yeast effects also have the more interesting characteristic of offering an apricot, woody and vinegary underlying taste. Light-medium bodied for a beer of this caliber, oily and thin, quite astringent and alcoholic with all that citric feature. Fantastic alcohol hiding job, but that’s not the point of brewing, is it?

(Bottle, #1635) Pours a cloudy amber with a moderate off-white head. Aroma of banana bread dough and sour fruit. Flavor of malt, cider, and lactic.

Pours a deep copper ruby with a nicely-lacing, thin, off-white head. Has an intense, rich caramel and peaty malt aroma. Starts with some acetic sour brown sugar and light fruitiness. Tastes more like an old ale than a scotch ale. Too much tartness makes me want to think it’s infected. Does manage to hide its alcohol well though.

Pours brown with a red hue and a small tan head. Smells of nuts, sweet malt, dark fruit, some chocolate. Tastes of tarte cherries, roses, sweet malt, some hints of peat on the finish.

Draught, Boulder Strong Ale fest ’05. Body is dark amber. Aroma is lightly malty (caramel), lightly hoppy (resin), with notes of sherry and alcohol. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Surprisingly dull/bland.

Orange candy slices and powdered sugar in the aroma. Pale copper coloured body with low, white, fully diminishing head. Soured fruit in the musty yet sweet flavour with a simple sugary aftertaste. Medium light body with pointy carbonation. Bottle (#1346/2000) sampled at DenverLogan’s GABF wrap-up.

Thanks to CaptainCougar for this rare treat. Poured a dark amber color with some orange hue and a cream colored head. First sniff of the beer gave a nice peaty smell this was quickly replaced by sour orange juice. It reminded me of One of the Victory V series I had a few years ago. Flavor was tart with some orange taste and a bitter finish. Based on some of the reviews I see this might have been a bad bottle.

750mL corked bottle with Eyedrinkale and Walt on 9/29/2005. Pours a rather lifeless, heavy, maroon-amber-chocolate brown colored beer. Watery, tan head is very quickly dissipating and though some legs travel down the glass, no lacing is left behind. Aroma of dirty yeast, borderline bacterial, but this only in the background. Up front there are blood oranges, spoiled/spoiling tangerines and oranges, soft but strong liquor and tons of prunes, raisins, caramel and buttercream. Flavor is very vinous, with more prunes, raisins and thick, sweet caramel. Notes of oranges and vanilla on the end, with a fair dose of alcohol apparency. The textrue wants to be thick and rich, but the lack of carbonation, and heavy liquid just gives it an uninspired, loose, unpleasant feel. Like others say, it could have a slight infection. The lack of carbonation and some dirty flavors are possible signs. Or it could just be that these guys were over their heads in brewing this high gravity of a beer. Oddly, I didn’t mind the beer that much, having notes reminiscent of English barleywines and old ales, which I really enjoy. If you can get past all of the buttercream, vinousness, syrupy sweet candied fruits and lack of carbonation, it’s passable, I guess. . .