VTHopHead (934), Barre, Vermont, USA
| 3.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 14/20 | Sep 27, 2009 Bottle - Pours nice copper in color with a light tan head that quickly faded and only a small amount of carbonation. Aroma is malty with toffee/caramel and some chocolate. Flavor is also malty with molasses, smoky peat, some coffee and roasted malts. Some alcohol apparent. Finish is slight sweet with coffee and chocolate. Pretty good... asheft (1438), Marburg, Germany
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 15/20 | Aug 28, 2009 [bottle]
Potent dried fruit malt aroma with spicy molasses notes. Thick, opaque garnet-brown with a lasting beige foam island and ring. Sweet and salty molasses and pumpernickel malt with a bit too much ethanol. Dried fruit, tobacco, walnuts. Bitterness is significant and appropriately offsets the potent residual sweetness. Medium to full body, medium carbonation, sweet and nutty bitter finish. Slightly warming. BigBen2120 (688), Derry, New Hampshire, USA
| 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 | Aug 17, 2009
12oz screw-top bottle purchased at Tiger Town in Gardiner, Maine. Pours a dark copper translucent body with a thin film of light tan head. Roasty peaty malt with a fair dollop of butter in the aroma. Dark chocolate, coffee, peaty smokiness, and butter in the background. Alcohol is fairly well-hidden. Not a bad wee heavy, but could definitely afford to be cleaned up a bit. smcolw (368), Wayland, Massachusetts, USA
| 3.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 6/10 | 2/5 | 13/20 | Aug 16, 2009 Impressive head (12 oz beer fills my 20 oz glass with foam). Leaves chunky lace on the glass. The color is garnet brown where light comes through. It appears to be clear.
Semi-sweet chocolate with a strong creaminess that I wasn’t expecting.
Darker flavor than the smell indicates. Alcohol is very noticeable for the style. The body is relatively thin. The carbonation is on the high side. There is a light hop at the swallow that makes the beer quite dry. The aftertaste is short lived mocha. jcwattsrugger (5573), Florida and, New Jersey, USA
| 3.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 5/10 | 3/5 | 12/20 | Aug 14, 2009 12oz bottle-pours a light brown head and deep red color. Aroma is sweet medium/dark malt, toffee/chocolate, earthy/peat, hint of hops. Taste is medicinal alcohol over top the sweet medium/dark malt, toffee/chocolate, woody/earthy/peat/smoky, hint of hops. Fruit-raisin/prune. Dry finish. Thanks jwc215 for picking this out.
Cletus (5058), Connecticut, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 | Jun 26, 2009 Pours light brown with an off white head. Smells of sweet malt, some peat, some pepper, earthy, dry. Tastes of dark fruit, molasses, brown sugar, some roasted malt, lightly smoky. Great beer! bu11zeye (5621), Frisco, Texas, USA
| 3.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 14/20 | Apr 16, 2009 (12oz bottle) Pours a mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma of raisins, brown sugar, caramel, and plum. Flavor of raisins, brown sugar, plum, hops (floral, earthy), and toasted grain. trufflepig (12), , New Jersey, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 | Apr 15, 2009 Had my first one yesterday. Got a 4 pack for $3.99. Yes, that’s right... $3.99. Nice pop to the bottle. Dark pour to a tan 1 finger head. Nose was molasses and malt all the way. Some prune, little chocolate but mostly molasses. Initial taste was strong like a scotch ale should be. This ale is right in the sweet spot of the style. The taste sticks with you so it’s heavy on the tonge. Carb was a little low which was perhaps why the taste was clinging, but it might have been just that bottle. Downed the rest of the ale without much trouble - it’s a bit on the sweet side for me but excellent and for the price, it’s a flipping must have. Go buy this ALE!
|