Golden Valley Tannen Bomb

Brewed by Golden Valley Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
McMinnville, Oregon USA

The Lure:
Diacetyl apples and caramel cherries repulse most, save for those with a fat tooth.

The Festivities:
Yeasty bitterness and miscellaneous fruit thankfully are left alone by the looming butter monster. It’s only a question of time though I’m sure. Body is light and boring, and does not nurture nor does it encourage quaffing.

Transcendence:
Too much butter is bad for the heart.

Nice reddish/orange color with a flat white head. Sweet candy, apricot, and green apples for aroma. Flavor is the same as aroma but also some spices as well. Very full-bodied and warming. You can tell alot of care went into this brew. With that said my only complaint is that it’s a bit thickly sweet and cloying. Still, this is pretty decent stuff. Just not one I want alot of, especially at one sitting.

Portland Holiday Ale Festival 2004. Light brown beer with a thick tan head. Sweet caramel malt aroma. Flavour is sweet caramel, brown sugar with some spicy hops. There are warm baking spices near the end of a long bitter finish.

Pours a reddish brown with a small head even after a vigorus pour and very little lacing. Aroma is sweet malt with a bit of darker fruit like apricots and...prunes? Taste kinda echos dates. Actually, dates pretty much nails it. Wow, solidly dates. I’ve never had a beer that hit one particular taste like this before. Definately dates. I’m searching for something else here and I’m struck by how much anything else present could also be said about dates. Yeah, dates; period. If you could liquidify dates, add carbonation and some alcohol, this is exactly what you would have. Palate is rather thick and decently carbonated, as in it doesn’t quite get rid of the date flavor. And for the style listed (English Strong) it completely lacks any mineral feel to it. Overall, if you love dates you’ll love this, but there are a lot of better holiday offerings out there. I really wanted to like this as I currently live in OR and like to support OR beers. Additionally, I wanted to like this because I’ve really disliked the other offerings from this brewery, so I wanted to make amends. That didn’t happen here.

Bottle pours reddish brown, lacks any real head, some lacing, with light carbonation.   Sweet biscuity aroma, malty, with a touch of dark pitted fruit.   Grains, oats, biscuit, and some malts on the tongue.   Sweet, but not at first, with a slight choco-fruity flavor bringing up the rear.   Medium body and mouthfeel.   Thought it would have been thicker by the smell of things.   Finishes slightly astringent, herbish, with a carob like chocolate flavor.   Aroma had me, the front of this beer was decent, but the back completely put me off.   NEXT!

Bottle pours a clear deep red color with a small beige head and no lace. The aroma is slightly berry like and floral notes of hops. The flavor is very complex. There is quite a spectrum of malt flavors along with fruity ale characteristics that show through in a symphony. Malt sweetness starts the show, with an ale berry fruitiness, some roasted malt showing an almost chocolate covered cherry flavor, all followed by a lingering hop bitterness that almost gives a sensation of bitter chocolate combined with the roast flavors. The palate is rich, real rich. This is a fine Ale. Many thanks to my cousin for hauling from OR.

pours a dark red amberish color, Floral hop aroma with a little bit of fruityness. Taste begins very malty and thick, then changes to a decent full body and a hop finish.I found some nutty tastes in this as well as roastinss and as well some fruitiness to rap up the ness’s. Finishes dry.

Pours a dark red/copper with a light tan head. Aroma has some light floral hops, not much for malt. Taste starts with a light molasses maltiness, very quick then a big dried hop finish. A bit of toastiness comes out in the start, maybe some dry nutty qualities and a bit of fruit. Very dry finish, smooth but with an alcohol presence in the finish.