 Indra (1845), Prairie Village, Kansas, USA
Jan 5, 2004
Bottle No. 09563. Indulgent, sumptuously full, rich, malty and fruity aroma, vinous and sugary, with ample notes of red grape, pear, juicy plum and fig, along with suggestions of faint alcohol, flowery sweetness, melted caramel and vanilla. Sublime deep red color, lightly hazy with orange highlights. Head is largely absent. Flavor profile is also succulently sweet, malty, fruity and full, toffeeish and sugary but deftly avoiding all degrees of cloying, and with a gently spicy, estery, long and warming finish. Palate is smooth, lacking much effervescence, while the body is medium-full and provides an intricate but strong framework for the flavor characteristics. Highly enjoyable, a truly world-class example of the style.
WISEGUY572 (1123), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Aug 21, 2008 2001? A beer Odyssey? Hard to imagine a better way to celebrate another century of ratings. Pours dark copper, full tan head, gorgeous. Nose of honey, toffee, hops and malt. Wonderful. Taste of sweet caramel, ginger and maybe clove, malts, and hops, with a long hop and spice finish. Also wonderful. Hard to imagine a better British Ale. But who cellars a beer for 7 years?
jjpm74 (3087), Stratford, CT 06614, Connecticut, USA
Jul 7, 2008 Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells of caramel, honey, some toffee, hints of fruit, spice, earthy. Tastes earthy with some nice spicy hints, sweet caramel, minor fruit presence, hints of citrus. Enjoyable.
holdenn (1160), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Mar 1, 2008 Sampled at Delilah’s Vintage Strong Ale fest. Sampled along with the 99, 00, 04, and 05. Pours copper with an off white head. The nose is sweeter than the others. Toffee, brown sugar, caramel, dough, apples, oranges. Caramel toffee malt flavors that are fruity and slightly sour. Finishes with burnt anise notes, alcohol, and spice. This one was really fruity compared to the others, and that isn’t a good thing. Not into this one as much as the 99, 00, or 04.
drewbeerme (1839), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Feb 23, 2008 2/23/08, bottle samples of vintages 99,00,01,04, and 05. similar to 00 but a little more sweet red and dark fruits in this one while the finish was a bit sour doughy. enjoyed this vintage the least.
Cobra (1033), In the snake pit, Maryland, USA
Feb 16, 2008 500 ml. brown bottle. Part of a vertical tasting held for my close friends. This year’s vintage has aged better than the 1999 for some reason. Maybe it was handled better? Poured out a dark copper color, with a minimal tan head. Aromas are mostly malts, some earthy hops way off in the background. Flavors are all malts, some oak barrel & vanilla here also. Thick & chewy mouthfeel. Finished slightly sweet.
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