Pailhead (2572), Allen Park, Michigan, USA Sep 19, 2005 Bottle: Courtesy of The Beer God via trade. Aroma is nice with some banana bread, caramel, a hint of citrus, and a pretty big alcohol presence as well. Pours a mostly transparent reddish-orange with a moderate off-white head that lasts a minute or so. Apple, banana bread, and light caramel up front with a lightly citrus hopped finish with some alcohol, but not as strong I expected based on the aroma. Smells like it’s 11.4%, but doesn’t taste like it. goldtwins (4078), Nesconset, New York, USA Sep 10, 2005 Poured a mostly clear amber/orange color with minimal off-white head. Aroma is thick and sweet. Caramel, fruity, pine, and alcohol fumes. Flavor matches aroma very closely with the addition of hop bitterness from middle to the dry finish. Full bodied. Aubrey (2773), Denver, Colorado, USA Aug 29, 2005 Clear and rusty orange. Rich, intense sweetness from the first whiff to the last swallow (not necessarily a "dessert" sweetness, though). Super-smooth and rich texture. Complex sweetness (aged caramel, if there were such a thing), with notes of candy sugar and Astropops. Flowery bitterness. Nice balance, surprisingly. Dryish finish, curiously. Hidden alcohol, but warming. Really good stuff. Crosling (1854), Loveland, Colorado, USA Aug 28, 2005 - Reddish orange color, with a small head. Well aged, melded malt aroma, sherry hints, caramel and toffee, with nice aroma hops, but the malt shines through in the nose. Very sweet and sugary, with honey laden malts, sherry and a well aged malt flavor. Lou18 (1353), West Paterson, New Jersey, USA Aug 10, 2005 From secret Santa. The nose of this malty mother hits immediately. A hazy burnt orange body had a tan had. Nose was thick, with sweet malts. Wow, this had a lot of wood characteristics, earthy, sweet, and roasted. Very syrupy, but dry to the finish, and the % gives a wicked warming. mephisto (1144), Taiwan Jul 18, 2005 bottled, clear amber w/ almost no head. malty aroma, chewy and alcoholic, the flavor is caramel and fruit. Sully (1367), Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia Jul 18, 2005 Updated: Jan 9, 2006Another offering from Phil (Haddon90) on his trip downunder. I poured this into a snifter and was immedately taken by the beautiful rich coppery colour and clean head. The nose is agreeably oloroso like and so the comment about sherry notes are very valid. There is a definite promise of the Alcohol to come as the depth of nose coming from the resinous oak aged character suggests something strong. The flavour doesn’t let you down at all. A rich and warming hit of syrupy caramel, cinnamon and bready notes comes through. This is one of the archetypal winter sippers, in your slippers, what a ripper. Onya Phil. heemer77 (4294), Savannah, Missouri, USA Jul 11, 2005 Thanks for sharing a bottle, hwy kevin. The barrel aging dominates this brew. Poured a dark amber witha yellowish head. The aroma is boozy vanilla and oak from the barrel aging. There are also some apples and a little cinnamon, but it is light. The taste is vanilla and oak. There is also a hint of cinnamon and some some chocolate. There is a little spice here. Fairly good, but one dimensional.
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