Carlyle American Strong Ale

Brewed by Carlyle Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Rockford, Illinois USA

Date: 06/20/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

muddy rust, fine beige head, drippy lace, rich sweet dark caramel malt aroma with lots of earthy hops, sticky sweet body, rich malt flavor, brown sugar sweetness is balanced with some earthy bitterness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

On tap at the brewpub on 6/20/07: Pours a transparent dark orange amber with a frothy, well-lacing off-white head. Aroma has a lot of grapefruity hops and sweet dark caramel malt. Body starts with a decent amount of sweet malt and lots of fresh citrusy hops before a toasty, bittersweet finish that hides the abv well.

This poured a cloudy, yellowish brown body with a bubbly head. The aroma contains old caramel, a hint of toffee, and an earthy bitterness. The flavor carries on with the caramel and earthiness along with some vanilla and a peppery spiciness. Interesting.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Brewing Company, Rockford, IL<font size=-1>

Sample at the brewpub. Opaque, muddy brown with lasting smidgeon of head and thick granular lacing...awesome sweet, complex fruity nose, the multitudes of oranges, apricots, cherries and crabapples are with me yet, all resting on a soft bed of hay and dosed liberally with caramel...the body, spicy-sweet, pungent and hoppy, very full with just the right amount of warming alcohol, prunes, all in a lightly yeasty, thick mouthfeel, juicy and bitter and then nicely dry and bitter, on and on and on.

Was listed as Poor Richard’s Ale. The beer pours to a hazy reddish brown body with a very thin white head. The flavor is very complex. I think there are amarillo hops in this. I also get bananas, caramel malts, interesting spiciness, intersting bill of hops. The aroma has vanilla, bananas, deep caramel malts. The palate is medium bodied, silken, and velvety.

tap at brewpub-berries/hops in the aroma-very think palate with alcohol not really present in flavor, but in overall mouth feel. reminds me of boulevard nutcracker ale ReRate-dec 28,2004 This batch is very smiilar to the one i had a year ago. Lots of berries and maple notes this time around. a little more hop presence though. tasty. boosted the ratings up a few notches.

Sampler. Finally, we wrap the evening with the former Poor Richard’s. Solid brown body packed with malts instead of sugar (blame that previous quad for this observation). With a little more alcohol, it could be a "young Bigfoot." Strong malt and alcohol. The hops manage some bacup, but give up after a while, leaving just a little lingering bitter aftertaste.

Cloudy brown body. Sweet caramelly aroma with a cotton candy element. Strong caramel flavor under a light roast malt and spruce hop. A bold malty beer, good stuff.