Lightning Old Tempest Ale

Sampled at the ’09 RBPTE, courtesy of treyrab. Grass and floral hops in this one, with sweet notes of toffee, butterscotch, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Heavy malty character with caramel. Dark amber hazy body with light brown frothy lasting head. Full bodied with medium carbonation. Long lasting sweet character and light woody notes. A bit of nice bitterness in the finish with sweet after. Nice quaff.

Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a murky orange-amber color with a small white head. The aroma was sour, nutty, fruity and a bit rough. The favor was tangy and fruity with light pineapple and grapefruit notes. The finish was long, sweet and fruity. Fairly thick. Decent.

This one poured a murkly brown color with a light light beige head. Aroma was very malty, alcohol and some dark fruits as well. Flavor was somewhat one dimensional, maily sweet malts and some caramel. This one reminded me of a weaker barleywine with not much going on.

Had this one at the RB Pittsburgh tasting. Tasted kind of generic to me. Nice balanced flavor, just nothing jumping out and grabbing me. Could have been the victim of it’s placement in the tasting lineup, in between two genuinely fantastic beers.

Big thanks goes out to treyrab for this special brew! Had the pleasure of sampling this at the 7/9/2009 Pittsburgh RB tasting extravaganza (PGHRBEXT) at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. It will be a long time, if ever I see a spread of bottles like I did there. I am not good enough for the beers that were that we served! For example, how about this beer; old tempest! Floating things in the otherwise brownish cloudy pale ale. Old alky aroma of fruit and whisky. Taste is somewhat older alky soaked fruit as well. Strong back of throat bitter feeling builds thru the session. Way too strong for this lager lover. Mouth coating to an extent. Seems to be higher than the 9% listed here. Barely any carbonation. Long bitter alky linger. This beer is more complex and beyond my rating ability, thanks for the experience Trey!

22 oz. bottle from BevMo (SD) - Pours a hazy golden color with a large two finger thick off white head. Light lacing. Aroma is esters and light notes of sweet malt. Flavor is very fruity. Finishes like a German Hefe. Alcohol is fairly well hidden. Medium to full body. A nice beer.

Bottle shared by someone at "Drink for Charity" event at Rattle N Hum. Sweet chewy aroma. Light citrusy lemon and a touch of acidity. There is a strange falvour of orange and banana. Chewy sweet and lightly sour. Meh... it doesn’t really do it for me.

Courtesy of AllAboutStout

Bottle: The aroma is loaded with pineapple and some citrus. It pours a slightly hazy orange with a small creamy white head. The flavor starts with moderate pineapple and citrus. The finish has a hint of orange peel and faint sourness. Medium bodies with a soft mouthfeel. Overall it’s a solid beer, but Old Ale? No way.