Fish Tale Old Woody English Old Ale

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Old Ale
Olympia, Washington USA

Brown bottle, 355 ml, via Philippe Boutin on December 4 2007, savoured on April 8 2008; eye: mahogany, hazy, suspended matter, no effervescence, tiny ring of beige head, no lacing; nose: enjoyable alcohol, caramelized malt, hops, light fruity, oak; mouth: bitterness, malt, caramel, liqueur-like, candied fruits, oak, finale in hops with a good presence of malt and a hint of alcohol and oak, mildly sweet and bitter, light astringency, medium to full body, not much carbonation; overall: quite good FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 355 ml, via Philippe Boutin le 4 décembre 2007, savourée le 8 avril 2008; œil : acajou, voilée, matière en suspension, pas d’effervescence, petit anneau de mousse beige, pas de dentelle; nez : alcool agréable, malt caramélisé, houblon, léger fruité, chêne; bouche : amertume, malt, caramel, liquoreuse, fruits candis, chêne, finale en houblon avec une bonne présence de malt et une pointe d’alcool et de chêne, moyennement sucrée et amère, légère astringence, corps moyen à corsé, peu carbonatée; en résumé : très bonne

From a 22oz Bottle. Pours a mostly transparent, ruby copper color with a thin finger of creamy tan foam. Fruitcake aromas with raspberry and strawberry gumdrop notes, along with hints of toffee malt. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel with a silky texture. Flavors of strawberry fruits and caramel malt up front on the palate, but this is lost almost immediately in a wave of bitter hops. Excessively hoppy, to the point where the one-dimensional hop bitterness completely overwhelms the malt and aged fruitiness, especially after a few sips. Too hoppy for an old ale, which essentially kills the best parts.

22oz. bottle. Mild but enticing fruity, sweet aroma, with notes of toasty malt, red grape, pomegranate, bready dough, flowery perfume, toffee, oak, medicinal alcohol and a touch of hop spice. Rather complex, ultimately. Hazy medium deep amber color, head is fine and subsiding. Flavor is gently bitter and indeed a bit woody to start, becoming maltier, sweet and fruity, with a lightly warming, berryish finish and lingering hints of spruce. Very smoothly effervescent and mellow on the palate, body is nicely full. Subtle and tasty. Thanks to theisti for sharing.

22 oz. bottle - 2007 vintage; pours dark brown with ruby highlights; cream head around the edges; aromas of dank fruits, some wood and malts; very dry finish; flavor is a mouthful; malty and fruity; great stuff

2002 bottle shared by Humulone_Red. Thanks for the chance to try this!! Pours a rich dark maroon color with a light tan head. Smell is mellow and balanced and very rounded and obviously aged with malt and light hops and oak all in harmony. Taste is light to moderately tart and oaky with almost a kriek like flavor to it in addition to a smooth maltiness. Oaky, hoppy finish to it. Age has changed this quite a bit from what it was, I was told, but still quite good, and highly drinkable.

22 oz. bottle purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle, Washington - shared at the csbosox tasting on 3/7/08. Pour is hazy brown orange with a quick fading off white head. Aroma of nice rounded biscuit caramel cookie dough malt. The oak - wine appears only slightly in the nose. Taste of the caramel maltiness with a bright pine hop bitterness to the finish. The after taste is very dry, almost moldy. The finish and after taste is really where the oak barrel comes to the front. Very typical for the old ales I have had. This was well done and enjoyable.

12 oz bottle from 2003. Pours a hazy reddish brown with a small soapy head. Lots of sediment floating around in this one, not sure if that’s the norm or not. Aroma of Caramel, fruit, wood, nuts. This smells quite nice. Taste is sweet fruit, wood, caramel, with a slightly dry bitterness at the finish that mingles with the sweetness and fruit to do a little dance.

bottle....poured a muddled redish caramel brown with a thin frothy off-white head..... a very malt forward nose consisting mostly of caramel, dates and other dark fruits with a small hop undertone..... flavors followed suit mostly with the sweet malt taking precedence. a slight hoppy bitterness in the finish as well as some tobacco and smoky wood.