 BBB63 (3795), La Porte, Indiana, USA
Nov 1, 2003
Bottle shared with Kinz at the Capital Ale House in Richmond VA: 1988 Vintage. Nice orange and brown multicolored hue with no head but oily tears. As Brian stated "floaties thanks to an overzealous pour by the waitress" which then proceded to a lesson on pouring old bottle conditioned brews. What a wonderful aroma! Toasted malt, sweet fruit, molasses, dates, honey, vanilla, cassis, minor alcohol and bourbon tones were very welcoming to my senses. Sweet and smooth malt taste with a big bourbon like quality as well, vinous. The finish allowed me to savor some twangy fruit and caramel, hint of some salt as well. The alcohol was hidden very well. Full-bodied and sticky beer had aged gracefully. A knockout sippin' beer. This beer was worth the $18 price tag, YUMMY!
fredandboboflo (471), East Setauket, New York, USA
Aug 26, 2008 Bottle, 1999. I’m confirming more and more that I just don’t like these aged puppies. I don’t deny that it’s a good, well-made beer, but it’s just so sweet, so pruny. Such a mixed bag. Goodness, sweetness. Really useless for me to go into more detail.
LilBeerDoctor (475), East Setauket, New York, USA
Aug 26, 2008 Bottle, 1999 vintage. Pours a cloudy amber brown with a small light tan head that dissipated quickly. Aroma of of oatmeal, sweet brown sugar, sweet fruits (raisin, apple, pear), slight alcohol. Flavor is SUPER sweet. Wow. I’ve never had port or sherry but I imagine that this beer would taste something like that. Syrupy and thick. Not bad tasting but very strong and it was hard to handle more than one sip of a time of this. Much too sweet and I thought that this would have mellowed somewhat in the 9 years since it was bottled.
502Flavors (220), Kentucky, USA
Aug 24, 2008 2003 vintage 9.3 oz. bottle into a sniffer. Wierd pour: thin dirty orangish brown hazy color with very minimal and unbelievably fast fading barely off-white head. Aroma is very very sweet and malty with a bit of soy character (my pet peeve in beer). Overly sweet, as is the case with many "Old Ales" but not soo overly sweet and soyish that it is undrinkable, but still pretty overwhelming. Medium to heavy bodied on the palate with little to no carbonation. Overall: more representative of the approach to the Old Ale/barley wine style that I don;t particularly care for, but not the worst overly sweet old ale out there by a long shot.
buzzoven (116), Japan
Aug 19, 2008 Bottle vintage 1999. Seriously thick brew. Poured like tar from a smoker’s lung. A rich, deep scorched brown molasses colour with opaque orange highlights and some cloudy hazy copper tones as well. Nose is sweet caramel, candied fruits...complex smells. Mouthfeel is thick, sticky, and sweet as hell..even leaving a syrupy residue on the lips and teeth. Taste is perfect balance of fruits and liquer...brandy, rum, whiskey, apricot, plum, raisins, but more so than anything, I would say that this is the port wine of beers. It is something to behold and a fine thing to enjoy. Strangely enough, even at such a high alcohol content, I found it easy to drink fairly steadily. But having said that, this is probably best enjoyed in slow, savory sips.
Juelze (676), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
Aug 16, 2008 Thanks to my bro for picking this up. Pours a rich brown color with slight hazy and minimal head. Aroma is intense butterscotch, caramel, toffee and light alcohol. Taste is caramel, toffee, butterscotch, some dark fruit and a bit of molasses. Very similar to Triple Bock IMHO, but less soy sauce. This is the ’02 version btw. Anyway, not bad considering the ABV which is very well hidden. Good but not mind blowing.
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