LaConner Tannenbaum Ale

Brewed by LaConner Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
LaConner, Washington USA

2001 Vintage. The aroma is of strong floral hops even after 8 years, chocolate, roast, a touch of oxidation, and I was gonna say brown sugar, but molasses is pretty much what it was. Pours a nice shade of reddish brown with a thin bubbly head that stuch around for a little while. The flavor is hoppy, and pretty bitter initially. This bitterness lingers and is followed by chocolate, roast, molasses, and then more dry hop flavors in the finish. This aged extremely well, as there was only minor oxidation that flattened out some of the flavors a bit, but it worked. There was still nice carbonation and lots of hops. This was really enjoyable all things considered.

Aromas of sweet cherry, banana. Mild piney bouquet, freshly cut wood. You can definetly smell the alchohol. Malty butterscotch/cola, bitter earthy mid, woodsy hops finish. Texture gets fairly dry and astringent. A complex palate keeps it interesting.

Draft at the brewpub. Slightly hazy rubied dark amber with thin but fairly dense and creamy grayish head. Light lace. Earthy, leathery and leafy hoppy piney nose. Medium and very smooth body with soft carb. This is definitely squarely on the bitter side of the street for an ESA. Earth, leaves, leather, light pine and fair resin shine through the mid-palate. Mild, slightly toasty finish.

12 oz. bottle from 2003 quaffed Jan 2004. Beautiful opaque dark brown hue with a thick viscous head. Very nice lacing. Strong smell of roasted malts, bittersweet chocolate, with a whiff of fresh hop flowers. Medium bodied. Taste is first of dark roasted malts, smoked almonds, with a caramel sweetness. Finishes bittersweet with a blackened malt - alcohol dryness. This brew tastes better closer to room temp than fridg temp. A most excellent old ale. Scores reflect the 2003 bottle. 12 oz. bottle from x-mas 2000 enjoyed Feb 2004; Has a roasted malt and caramel smell. A burnt, sweet caramel, toasted dark malt flavor followed by a bittersweet chocolate alcohol tang . Thick, chewy mouthfeel. Finishes dust bowl dry. This brew was worth the four year wait.

a beautiful red/amber color with fast dissipating tan head. First aroma was a strong smell of butterscotch. Followed by hop, malt, and a haunting aroma of minty pine. As it airs, the pinyness becomes more prevalent (is it the power of label suggestion?). I taste the malt first, which initially echoes the smell of butterscotch, going into a pine/hop/roasted malt flavor. A nice smooth texture. The finish is a bit smoky and peaty. Later-I found the finish excessively smoky. I felt as if I had smoked a cigar.

Poured a murky dark brown color with a thin beige head. Sweet toffee malt and big on the spice. Cinnamon and ginger. Cinnamon and spice flavor with caramel and roasty malt. Light coffee and fruits.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 30-Nov-05 in trade with Larry Pitonka, thanks André!) Out of the bottle, this beer pours a ruddy brown color with a slight haze, and the small beige head settles to a wide ring within a few minutes. The initial aroma and flavor are piney, herbal and hoppy with a moderately roasty malt base. Fairly strong flavor, but quite enjoyable at first. But I have to wonder if there isn’t something with the hopping methods applied by LaConner these days because, again, I’m getting kind of a funky aroma and flavor that is bordering on rotten vegetables. It’s mild though, and wasn’t there when I first opened the beer, but the longer this beer is open, the harder it is to overlook this. Body is medium to full, the carbonation level is moderate, and the hops keeps the palate relatively crisp for this dark and heavy a beer. As a whole, I liked this beer okay, and it was definitely better when I first opened it up, but it really fell apart in the end.

12 oz bottle, via acertain. Pours a dark reddish copper with a small light brown foamy head. Generous amounts of sediment in bottle. Very sweet smelling aroma, lots of caramel and various herbs over a thickly malty base. Flavor is very malty with big herbal and spicy character. Finish is slightly sweet with some hints of spruce tip flavor. Medium bodied with minimal carbonation yielding a very soft and smooth mouthfeel. Overall, pretty decent, I have a certain fondness for herbal/spicy Christmastime beers like this.